1 piece.
Holograph Manuscript. [Hopkinson, Francis, strongly attributed to.] [Allegorical Poem] "Astronomy." [Ca 1785-1790.] 4 leaves (incl ms title leaf), quire of watermarked (likely French) paper with period staples; some creasing along gutters & edges, the bottom 2/3 of the 3rd leaf has been excised with no loss to the ms verse. Also titled "Astronomy" at head of 2nd leaf recto above beginning of the poem, constituting 118 lines in heroic couplets + 2 lines that have been crossed out & several corrections. A few small areas of paper loss - just touching a few words of the ms.
The conceit of this allegorical and sometimes satirical unpublished poem compares the break of the colonies from England to a cosmological theory advanced by the Comte de Buffon that the planets of our solar system were formed when a comet collided with the sun. The poet extends this conceit to George Washington, referring to him as "our sun," and to the "federalist race" as sprung from him.
A close analysis of the hand responsible for the above manuscript reveals telling similarities to the slant & formation of letters characteristic of known examples of Francis Hopkinson's hand, although, as a literary manuscript, executed in a somewhat more studied hand than his correspondence. No obvious signs of forgery can be detected here.
See America's Memory of the Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, Francis Hopkinson to Thomas Jefferson, Jan 4, 1784 for a record of discussions between Hopkinson & Jefferson on Buffon's theories. Buffon's subsequent unfavorable view of American flora & fauna alienated Jefferson, whose anger may have led Hopkinson to abandon publication of this poem.