WOMEN WRITERS


Collection of autograph letters etc., by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (to Mrs Chauncey Hare Townshend, while staying with Southey at Keswick in 1829: "I am sure I should like him so much, is he not very handsome; by some strange omission I never read Thalaba till during my late illness, it is quite extraordinary the hold it took on my imagination, I was obliged to take large quantities of opium, and I completely acted the whole poem over again in my dreams. I declare even now I shudder at the mention of the caves of Domdaniel..."), Amelia Opie (promising her publisher Lupton Relfe a manuscript, 19 February 1825: "The tale that I send is altered, & curtailed from one written three years ago – but which I now never expected to publish & I regretted the necessity of keeping it unprinted – but it occurred to me that it might, with alterations, answer thy purpose and I set to work -- however, I could not make it short enough -- & it is 20 minutes longer (in reading) than the two of last year But I am told by excellent judges that it is the cleverest tale I ever wrote -- & very interesting -- eventful & dramatic it certainly is and as I never think an interesting tale can be too long, I hope thy readers will be of the same opinion – I conclude that 'the garden roll' will be too long for thee with this long tale. If so, I will send thee some shorter poems -- & I beg my courier will return it to me if thou dost not want it..."), Agnes Strickland, Harriet Martineau, Caroline Norton, Maria Edgeworth ("...you will not think I am doing too Irish..."), Anne Scott of Lagan ("...come with a beautiful flower in your hand..."), and others; with a leaf from the autograph manuscript of 'The Betrayed: a Legend of the Alps' by Isabella Frances Romer; and an autograph anecdote by Robert Southey about the bluestocking Elizabeth Carter ("...When Mrs Carter was translating Epictetus, Secker then Bishop of Oxford, sent her word that unless she could prove to him that Epictetus wore a laced coat, he would not allow her to dress him in one..."), with a covering note from his daughter Katharine ("...She encloses a small piece from a note-book, as it is quite out of her power, to give him a signature, as they are very scarce..."), some mounted on album leaves, the manuscript by Mrs Romer on paper guard, dust-stained and somewhat frayed
|The leaf from Mrs Romer's 'The Betrayed: A Legend of the Alps' was published in the Keepsake annual for November 1841, and has the same provenance as the leaf from Mary Shelley's 'Invisible Girl', included in the present sale. Mrs Opie's overlong tale was clearly not accepted for publication by Relfe; his Friendship's Offering for New Year 1826 publishing only two pieces by her, an 'Epitaph on William Hayley' and the verses alluded to in our letter, 'An Address to the Garden Roll' (see the Primary Bibliography on the Amelia Alderson Opie Archive, Queen's University, Canada).