Origin
"The Twelve" of the title are wooden soldiers that may come to life. "The Genii" are their protective spirits, from 1826 four Brontë children, now joined by Max and his sister Jane Morley.
The twelve toy soldiers once belonged to Branwell Brontë and his sisters. They were given to Branwell, the fourth of six children and only boy, by their father in 1826. The two eldest girls had died the preceding year and the four surviving children were 6 to 10 years old; they made the soldiers the centre of their imaginative life and their childhood literary efforts.
Read more about this topic: The Twelve And The Genii
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