"Her first collection, "Genuine Poetical Compositions" (1791), had an impressive 1,935 subscribers, including literary notables Elizabeth Carter, Elizabeth Montagu, William Cowper, and Hester Chapone.As a labouring-class poet, Bentley—"content to be the last and lowest of the tuneful train"—adopted a humble stance towards her readers and let it be known that the venture was intended to establish an annuity for she and her mother.