Beschreibung:

Poetry.- [Opie (Amelia, novelist and poet, 1769-1853)] Song, & Chorus, for the Bazaar for the Benefit of the Hall Infirmary, or Hospital [&] Appeal to the Public, 2 autograph draft poems on 2pp., tipped-in on stub, slightly browned, n.d. [c. 1820]; and 3 others, including: a manuscript fair copy by Sir Abraham Hume The Progress of the Arts in Britain. Inscribed to the President of the Royal Academy..., 1779, and 2 autograph hymns by William Roscoe, folds, browned, v.s., v.d., (3 pieces). ⁂ First mentioned first poem seemingly unpublished. The verses were written for a specific occasion, demonstrating Opie's Christian and abolitionist beliefs by urging people to buy and help the sick. One side gives a more or less complete version, the other is in draft form with a number of of variant lives offered for consideration. The piece may have been intended for a bazaar in Opie's home town of Norwich, but the emphasis on colour and creed points towards a port city such as Liverpool where a new hospital was built in 1823. Ascribed in a contemporary hand to Mrs Opie.