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Opie (Amelia Alderson) Papers
mssOpie
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Amelia Alderson Opie papers
Creator:
Opie, Amelia, 1769-1853
Identifier/Call Number: mssOpie
Physical Description:
3.16 Linear Feet
(2 boxes, 1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1774-1909
Date (bulk): 1813-1906
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Amelia Alderson Opie papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased for the Huntington from Dean Cooke Rare Books Ltd by the Library Collectors'
Council, March 2021.
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.
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.
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.
The collection was processed by Gayle Richardson in February 2022.
Amelia Alderson Opie correspondence, mssOP.
Existence and Location of Copies
This collection has been digitized in its entirety and the digital reproductions are
available in the
Huntington Digital Library.
Arranged alphabetically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Society of Friends -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th
century
Theater -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Tuberculosis -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Women authors, English -- 19th century
Brussels (Belgium) -- Description and travel
Ephemera -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Ephemera -- Great Britain -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 20th century
Manuscripts -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Poems -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Songs -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Briggs, Catharina M.
Briggs, Elizabeth Alderson
Briggs, Henry Perronet,
1792-1844
Carr, Hilda Mary
Carr, James Haslewood
Denny, Edward,
1796-1889
Smith, James,
1775-1839