Amelia Alderson Opie papers, 1774-1909, bulk 1813-1906

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Summary

Creators:
Opie, Amelia, 1769-1853
Abstract:
A collection of original Amelia Alderson Opie manuscripts and correspondence with additional family related material, including manuscripts, correspondence, and ephemera. The Amelia Alderson Opie material includes two manuscript travel journals, poems, songs, and letters to and from various family members.
Extent:
3.16 Linear Feet (2 boxes, 1 folder)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Amelia Alderson Opie papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of manuscripts and correspondence by Amelia Alderson Opie; with related family material which includes manuscripts, correspondence, and ephemera. The Opie material includes two corrected manuscript travel journals, poems, and songs; the correspondence includes letters to various family members. There is also a poem, "To Mrs. Opie," by Sir Edward Denny (1796-1889), the hymnist, and one letter to Opie by James Smith (1775-1839), the writer and humorist. The manuscripts and letters are written by Opie unless otherwise noted. The family-related manuscript material includes fair copies of poems, prose pieces, and excerpts from Jane Austen. The correspondence includes letters from, among others, Elizabeth Alderson Briggs, Henry Perronet Briggs, Hilda Mary Carr, and James Haslewood Carr; many of the letters are addressed to Catharina M. Briggs. Some of these letters date from when Amelia Opie was alive, and a few make brief mention of her, but many of these letters date from after her death. The collection also contains the will of Samuel Dickens (1774) and one folder of ephemera.

Biographical / historical:

Amelia Alderson Opie (1769-1853) was a British Romantic poet and author. She was born in Norwich, England, to physician James Alderson and Amelia Briggs; Opie's mother died when she was 15. Opie anonymously published her first novel, The dangers of coquetry, in 1790 at the age of 20; she went on to publish six more novels, the most famous of which is Adeline Mowbry (1804), as well as volumes of tales and poems. She married the painter John Opie (1761-1807) in 1798 and through him met several artists and actors, including Sarah Siddons. Opie was a lifelong activist and abolitionist and when she joined the Society of Friends in 1825, she vowed to give up writing novels and plays. She dedicated the last decades of her life to abolitionist work and to asylum and prison reform; she died in Norwich in 1853.

Acquisition information:
Purchased for the Huntington from Dean Cooke Rare Books Ltd by the Library Collectors' Council, March 2021.
Custodial history:

Amelia Opie bequeathed her manuscripts to her friend Thomas Brightwell. The material later came into the possession of Ethel I. Carr, who was related to Amelia Opie via the Briggs family; Eliza Alderson Briggs and her husband, Henry Perronet Briggs were cousins of Opie. It was through their daughter Eliza, who had married the Rev. J. H. Carr, that the papers came into the Carr family, and thus to Ethel I. Carr. Upon Ethel's death in 1953, the material passed to her nephew who put them up for sale at Sotheby's.

Processing information:

The collection was processed by Gayle Richardson in February 2022.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Amelia Alderson Opie papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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