Inventory Dr. Priestley's Study Annotation

This poem seems to describe Dr. Priestley’s study as it was when he lived in Leeds (Schofield 162), which has led to speculation that Barbauld wrote this poem during the same visit she wrote “A Mouse’s Petition.” Priestly and Barbauld wrote to each other with some frequency, and they often discussed her poems in their letters (162). The reader can therefore imagine this poem as part of a continuing conversation between Priestley and Barbauld.

Priestley's Study

Unlike the “Petition,” “An Inventory” was never published during Barbauld’s lifetime (McCarthy and Kraft 73). This poem has received almost no critical attention, perhaps because of its uncontroversial subject, or perhaps because its references are so historically specific as to require heavy noting.

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