Grangerized copy of Brightwell's biography of Amelia Opie, with ca. 92 illustrations, including 9 original drawings by Opie; and ca. 30 letters, 1759-1854, to Opie or members of her family, compiled by Brightwell. (Many of these letters are reproduced in the biography.) Notable correspondents include George Crabbe, Elizabeth Inchbald, Robert Southey, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
The text leaves of the biography are mounted on 32 cm. leaves, interspersed with the correspondence and illustrations. A handwritten list of the tipped-in items precedes the frontispiece.
Biographical/historical: The writer and poet Amelia Alderson Opie (1769-1853) was a native of Norwich; her works include The Father and daughter, Adeline Mowbray, and Madeline. In 1798 she married the painter John Opie (1761-1807). Originally a Unitarian, she became a Quaker in 1825, and was active in the anti-slavery movement.
Cecilia Lucy Brightwell (1811-1875), an artist and writer, lived in Norwich for most of her life. She and her father, Thomas Brightwell (1787-1868), a naturalist and solicitor, were Opie's friends and the executors of her estate. Cecilia Brightwell's biography of Opie, which appeared the year after Opie's death, was her first published work.