1 590 résultats
1850réf. 1210761850. First Edition. SLAVERY SMITH Gerrit. Substance of the Speech Made by Gerrit Smith in the Capitol of the State of New York March 11th and 12th 1850. Albany: Jacob T. Hazen 1850. Octavo period-style half calf gilt marbled boards; pp. 1-3 4-25 26-27 28-30. $1500.First edition of the bold abolitionist's Speech proclaiming the Constitution ""does not allow the three million of our colored countrymen to be held in slavery"" a close friend of Frederick Douglass who ""openly embraced Smith's version of an antislavery interpretation of the Constitution"" delivered the same decade as John Brown's Harpers Ferry raid substantially financed by Smith.Smith a wealthy philanthropist was ""among the most outspoken"" of white abolitionists Jackson Force and Freedom 65. Once linked to William Lloyd Garrison's view of the Constitution as a ""covenant with death"" Smith split from Garrison and became a founder of both the Liberty Party and its successor the Radical Abolitionist Party. He was as well key in forging a close interracial alliance between Frederick Douglass Black abolitionist and physician James McCune Smith and John Brown. The four men shared the goal of achieving ""a 'radical change' in government."" By the early 1850s Douglass ""openly embraced Smith's version of an antislavery interpretation of the Constitution"" Blight 213. To Smith Douglass and figures as Alvan Stewart and Lysander Spooner ""the Constitution empoweredÑeven requiredÑCongress to abolish slavery in the southern states by direct legislationÉ As an editor Douglass had always engaged with national politics. Now the federal authority at the base of slavery's stranglehold on America became his intensive focus"" Blight 214; emphasis in original.This very scarce first edition captures the force of Smith's groundbreaking 1850 Speech and clearly demonstrates the breadth of his constitutional argument. Declaring ""law is for the protection of rightsÑnot for the destruction of rights"" emphasis in original he cites passages in the Declaration and Bill of Rights and addresses the pivotal ""three-fifths"" clause. Smith proclaims the Founding Fathers did not intend ""to make this whole land the slaveholder's hunting ground"" and asserts the Constitution ""does not allow the three million of our colored countrymen to be held in slavery."" He would use his wealth to help establish a Black settlement at North Elba N.Y. which was ""John Brown's permanent residence from 1854 until his death"" Stauffer Black Hearts 3. After Harpers Ferry and Brown's execution Smith faced demands that he be tried as an ""accessory after the fact."" While he ""publicly denied it Smith gave warm encouragement and financial assistance"" to Brown and the Harpers Ferry insurrection. Yet ""guilt over the failure of Brown's raid and fear of possible arrest as a co-conspirator caused Smith to commit himself to the Utica State Lunatic Asylum"" ANB. In time he publicly retreated from his Radical Abolitionist stance and died in 1874. Sabin 82670. A fine copy. hardcover books
1798réf. 1244831798. First Edition. SMITH Elihu.Hubbard. A Discourse Delivered April 11 1798 At the Request of and Before the New-York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves and Protecting Such of Them as Have Been or May Be Liberated. New-York: T. & J. Swords 1798. Slim octavo original tan self-wrappers string tied uncut; pp. 1-5 6-30 2. $3500.First edition of Smith's scathing attack on American slavery declaring it a betrayal as ""thousands of your fellow-beings children of the same father and inheritors of the same destinyÉ writhe under the lash of cruelty"" an exceptional 18th-century abolitionist work published barely ten years after ratification of the Constitution exceedingly rare uncut in original wrappers.Trained as a physician under Benjamin Rush ""Smith was an early abolitionist a member and Recording Secretary of the New York Manumission Society and trustee of the city's African Free School"" Stevenson Litchfield Native. ""Passionately committed to the improvement of the fledgling nation through the acquisition and circulation of information"" Smith's analysis of slavery in this very rare work published the same year as his early death at 27 expresses his and the Society's commitment ""to ideals of human perfectibility which they combined with the practical labor of achieving change"" Kelly on Kaplan Men of Letters. Here he takes aim at leaders and nations where the ""spirit of despotismÉ multiplied and extended the evil"" of slavery and ""wrought it into a system."" Noting the influence of renowned abolitionists John Woolman and Anthony Benezet he asserts that it is those in slave trade who particularly ""opened a new field forÉ every baneful enterprise"" when they became ""the first to violate the noble principles by which they had been guided."" Smith especially speaks to American leaders and slaveholders who concede ""slavery is unjust"" but claim ""it is entailed upon us by our fathers; it is interwoven with every part of our social organization."" In reply he declares that it is ""strange reasoning"" to endorse slavery simply because it exists. Arguing ""the laws of our country authorized the possession in human flesh"" he asks: ""Shall the legislators of a great nation be denied the powerÉ of acknowledging their errors and laboring to correct themÉ Encumbered as we are with this mighty evil"" Smith proclaims: ""You yes you the Legislators of America you are the real upholders of slaveryÉ you foster and protect itÉ you immortalize injusticeÉ while thousands of your fellow-beings children of the same father and inheritors of the same destinyÉ writhe under the lash of cruelty."" Evans 34554. Sabin 82502. Dumond 103. ESTC W37980. Not in Blockson. Text quite fresh with only faintest foxing to original wrappers. An excellent about-fine uncut copy in original wrappers. unknown books
1798réf. 1244831798. First Edition. SMITH Elihu.Hubbard. A Discourse Delivered April 11 1798 At the Request of and Before the New-York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves and Protecting Such of Them as Have Been or May Be Liberated. New-York: T. & J. Swords 1798. Slim octavo original tan self-wrappers string tied uncut; pp. 1-5 6-30 2. $3500.First edition of Smith's scathing attack on American slavery declaring it a betrayal as ""thousands of your fellow-beings children of the same father and inheritors of the same destinyÉ writhe under the lash of cruelty"" an exceptional 18th-century abolitionist work published barely ten years after ratification of the Constitution exceedingly rare uncut in original wrappers.Trained as a physician under Benjamin Rush ""Smith was an early abolitionist a member and Recording Secretary of the New York Manumission Society and trustee of the city's African Free School"" Stevenson Litchfield Native. ""Passionately committed to the improvement of the fledgling nation through the acquisition and circulation of information"" Smith's analysis of slavery in this very rare work published the same year as his early death at 27 expresses his and the Society's commitment ""to ideals of human perfectibility which they combined with the practical labor of achieving change"" Kelly on Kaplan Men of Letters. Here he takes aim at leaders and nations where the ""spirit of despotismÉ multiplied and extended the evil"" of slavery and ""wrought it into a system."" Noting the influence of renowned abolitionists John Woolman and Anthony Benezet he asserts that it is those in slave trade who particularly ""opened a new field forÉ every baneful enterprise"" when they became ""the first to violate the noble principles by which they had been guided."" Smith especially speaks to American leaders and slaveholders who concede ""slavery is unjust"" but claim ""it is entailed upon us by our fathers; it is interwoven with every part of our social organization."" In reply he declares that it is ""strange reasoning"" to endorse slavery simply because it exists. Arguing ""the laws of our country authorized the possession in human flesh"" he asks: ""Shall the legislators of a great nation be denied the powerÉ of acknowledging their errors and laboring to correct themÉ Encumbered as we are with this mighty evil"" Smith proclaims: ""You yes you the Legislators of America you are the real upholders of slaveryÉ you foster and protect itÉ you immortalize injusticeÉ while thousands of your fellow-beings children of the same father and inheritors of the same destinyÉ writhe under the lash of cruelty."" Evans 34554. Sabin 82502. Dumond 103. ESTC W37980. Not in Blockson. Text quite fresh with only faintest foxing to original wrappers. An excellent about-fine uncut copy in original wrappers. unknown
1854réf. 1266881854. First Edition. SMITH Gerrit. Speeches of Gerrit Smith. In Congress 1853-'4. Washington D.C.: Buell and Blanchard 1854. Octavo original printed green self-wrappers original stitching. $1850.First edition of nine major 1854 speeches by radical abolitionist Smith together in print for the first time featuring elemental works such as ""No Slavery in Nebraska"" defying Stephen Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska bill and denouncing ""the federal government as a 'bastard democracy'"" very elusive in fragile original wrappers.In the early 1850s Gerrit Smith ""a man of enormous emotional complexity religious fervor antislavery commitment and wealthÉ embraced political abolitionism."" By then Frederick Douglass had become ""an outspoken supporterÉ and rejoiced in Smith's election to Congress as a radical abolitionist in 1852"" Blight Frederick Douglass 207 252. Once linked to Garrison's view of the Constitution as a ""covenant with death"" Smith split from him to become a founder of both the Liberty Party and the Radical Abolitionist Party. As documented in this collection of nine key speeches Smith in his ""congressional career of 1853 and 1854É evolved into one of America's renowned militant antislavery activists"" Gordon-Omelka Militant Abolitionist 2. Key works here such as his June 14 1854 speech ""Abolition of the Postal System"" reflected his conviction that ""the right to free discussion"" was fundamental and that ""Southerners were threatening the very openness and integrity of American democracyÉ Smith would not stand for itÉ he presaged a new generation of American abolitionists: those whose membership was inspired not by evangelical Christianity like the earlier Garrisons and Tappans but by secular liberal political ideals."" His attention to issues such asÑ""freedom of speech civil liberties social order the proper role of federal and state governments with respect to slaveryÑmotivated a new kind of political abolitionism which attracted new groups into the movement and gave them new tools for action"" Lonky Revolutionizing the Public Sentiment 56.Also notably featured here is Smith's ""No Slavery in Nebraska."" It stands as his defining response to Senator Stephen Douglas' December 1853 version of the Kansas-Nebraska bill which ""ultimately repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed the territories' citizens to decide the slavery questionÉ Smith signed Chase's abolitionist appeal against the bill"" and in his April 6 1854 ""No Slavery"" speech ""asserted a fresh reason to oppose the bill based on the Constitution's limits on state sovereignty.'"" Denouncing ""the federal government as a 'bastard democracy'"" he predicted ""a violent end to slaveryÉ a reckoning for deep and damning wrongs"" Gordon-Omelka 12. Soon afterward following his resignation from Congress Smith helped establish a Black settlement at North Elba N.Y. which was ""John Brown's permanent residence from 1854 until his death"" Stauffer Black Hearts 3. In June 1855 Smith Frederick Douglass and John Brown were together at the first convention in Syracuse of the Radical Abolition party. Four years later Brown was executed following the Harpers Ferry Raid that Smith helped fund causing Smith to suffer a mental breakdown. The decade after the Civil War he died in 1874. First edition:containing nine separately paginated speeches: Speech of Gerrit Smith On War. In Congress January 18 1854. Washington D.C.: Buell & Blanchard 1854; Homes for All. Speech of Gerrit Smith On the Homestead Bill. In Congress February 21 1854. Washington D.C.: Buell & Blanchard 1854; No Slavery in Nebraska: No Slavery in the Nation: Slavery an Outlaw. Speech of Gerrit Smith on the Nebraska Bill. In Congress April 6 1854. Washington D.C.: Buell & Blanchard 1854; Keep Government within its Limits. Speech of Gerrit Smith on the Pacific Railroad In the House of Representatives May 30 1854. Washington D.C.: Buell and Blanchard 1854; Abolition of the Postal System. Speech of Gerrit Smith In the House of Representatives June 14 1854. Washington D.C.: Buell & Blanchard 1854; Speech of Gerrit Smith On Mexican Treaty and ""Monroe Doctrine."" In Congress June 27 1854. Buell and Blanchard: Washington D.C. 1854; Letter of Gerrit Smith On the Reciprocity Treaty. No place: no publisher: 1854; Government Bound to Protect from the Dramshop. Speech of Gerrit Smith On Sale of Intoxicating Drinks in the City of Washington. In Congress July 22 1854. Washington D.C.: Buell & Blanchard 1843; Gerrit Smith to his Constituents. Washington D.C.: Buell & Blanchard 1854. With Nebraska Bill partially unopened. Sabin 92595; 82634; 82635; 82639; 82642; 82649; 82658; 82659; 82660. See LCP. Afro-Americana 9513 1855 ed. Fine condition. unknown
1850réf. 1210761850. First Edition. SLAVERY SMITH Gerrit. Substance of the Speech Made by Gerrit Smith in the Capitol of the State of New York March 11th and 12th 1850. Albany: Jacob T. Hazen 1850. Octavo period-style half calf gilt marbled boards; pp. 1-3 4-25 26-27 28-30. $1500.First edition of the bold abolitionist's Speech proclaiming the Constitution ""does not allow the three million of our colored countrymen to be held in slavery"" a close friend of Frederick Douglass who ""openly embraced Smith's version of an antislavery interpretation of the Constitution"" delivered the same decade as John Brown's Harpers Ferry raid substantially financed by Smith.Smith a wealthy philanthropist was ""among the most outspoken"" of white abolitionists Jackson Force and Freedom 65. Once linked to William Lloyd Garrison's view of the Constitution as a ""covenant with death"" Smith split from Garrison and became a founder of both the Liberty Party and its successor the Radical Abolitionist Party. He was as well key in forging a close interracial alliance between Frederick Douglass Black abolitionist and physician James McCune Smith and John Brown. The four men shared the goal of achieving ""a 'radical change' in government."" By the early 1850s Douglass ""openly embraced Smith's version of an antislavery interpretation of the Constitution"" Blight 213. To Smith Douglass and figures as Alvan Stewart and Lysander Spooner ""the Constitution empoweredÑeven requiredÑCongress to abolish slavery in the southern states by direct legislationÉ As an editor Douglass had always engaged with national politics. Now the federal authority at the base of slavery's stranglehold on America became his intensive focus"" Blight 214; emphasis in original.This very scarce first edition captures the force of Smith's groundbreaking 1850 Speech and clearly demonstrates the breadth of his constitutional argument. Declaring ""law is for the protection of rightsÑnot for the destruction of rights"" emphasis in original he cites passages in the Declaration and Bill of Rights and addresses the pivotal ""three-fifths"" clause. Smith proclaims the Founding Fathers did not intend ""to make this whole land the slaveholder's hunting ground"" and asserts the Constitution ""does not allow the three million of our colored countrymen to be held in slavery."" He would use his wealth to help establish a Black settlement at North Elba N.Y. which was ""John Brown's permanent residence from 1854 until his death"" Stauffer Black Hearts 3. After Harpers Ferry and Brown's execution Smith faced demands that he be tried as an ""accessory after the fact."" While he ""publicly denied it Smith gave warm encouragement and financial assistance"" to Brown and the Harpers Ferry insurrection. Yet ""guilt over the failure of Brown's raid and fear of possible arrest as a co-conspirator caused Smith to commit himself to the Utica State Lunatic Asylum"" ANB. In time he publicly retreated from his Radical Abolitionist stance and died in 1874. Sabin 82670. A fine copy. hardcover
1883réf. 1255001883. First Edition. Signed. PILLSBURY Parker. Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles. Concord N.H.: Clague Wegman Schlicht 1883. Octavo original gilt-lettered brown cloth floral endpapers; pp. 503. $1500.First edition of the fearless abolitionist's memoir a distinctive presentation copy inscribed by Pillsbury to ""To Mr. & Mrs. F. M. CÑ With sincere regards and best wishes of their friend Parker Pillsbury. Concord New Hampshire 1894."" Hailed as a ""fighting book"" it documents the bold tactics of this notorious radical who early warned America was ""hastening toÉ a baptism of blood"" and was praised by Emerson as a ""tough oak stock of a man not to be silenced or insulted or intimidated"" a splendid copy in original cloth.Born in Massachusetts in 1809 the son of a blacksmith Pillsbury became a Congregational minister but was soon famed as one of the era's most radical abolitionists. Having once witnessed a slave auction he recorded its advertisement of: ""'two mules a horse andÉ 27 Negroes'É Does any mortal man or woman"" he asked ""comprehend all the tremendous meaning of those words"" Infamous for his apocalyptic style and confrontational tactics Pillsbury early declared the nation was ""hastening to its baptism. It is a baptism of blood."" He was resolute in denying any possible ""union with slave-holders""and also insisted ""women must be given their due rights."" Emerson admired him as a ""tough oak stock of a man not to be silenced or insulted or intimidated by a mob because he is more mob than they. He mobs the mob."" He was ""in Susan B. Anthony's eyes the Jeremiah of the anti-slavery movement"" Filler Parker Pillsbury 315 328-37.Fiercely anticlerical in his writings and in action Pillsbury would dramatically interrupt ""religious servicesÉ calling on audiences to 'come out' from their proslavery churches."" He linked most clergy to timid politicians and cautious abolitionists proclaiming them a ""brotherhood of thieves"" Robertson Hard Cold Stern Life 189. Pillsbury's 1883 memoir Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles was above all ""a fighting book."" In it he writes of his esteem for his fellow white radical Stephen S. Foster and leading Black abolitionists such as David Ruggles as well as his disdain for Lincoln; Pillsbury ""never forgot that the idolized Lincoln meant to save the Union and not necessarily to free the slaves"" Filler 336. First edition first printing: issued in brown cloth this copy and in green cloth no priority determined. Blockson 9099. See Work 304 1884 edition. This copy is inscribed to ""To Mr. & Mrs. F. M. Crosby."" It is notable that while there was a Crosby family of abolitionists in New Hampshire the identity of this copy's recipients could not be confirmed.Text pristine; tiniest bit of soiling to cloth. An especially handsome copy in fine condition. hardcover books
1883réf. 1255001883. First Edition. Signed. PILLSBURY Parker. Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles. Concord N.H.: Clague Wegman Schlicht 1883. Octavo original gilt-lettered brown cloth floral endpapers; pp. 503. $1500.First edition of the fearless abolitionist's memoir a distinctive presentation copy inscribed by Pillsbury to ""To Mr. & Mrs. F. M. CÑ With sincere regards and best wishes of their friend Parker Pillsbury. Concord New Hampshire 1894."" Hailed as a ""fighting book"" it documents the bold tactics of this notorious radical who early warned America was ""hastening toÉ a baptism of blood"" and was praised by Emerson as a ""tough oak stock of a man not to be silenced or insulted or intimidated"" a splendid copy in original cloth.Born in Massachusetts in 1809 the son of a blacksmith Pillsbury became a Congregational minister but was soon famed as one of the era's most radical abolitionists. Having once witnessed a slave auction he recorded its advertisement of: ""'two mules a horse andÉ 27 Negroes'É Does any mortal man or woman"" he asked ""comprehend all the tremendous meaning of those words"" Infamous for his apocalyptic style and confrontational tactics Pillsbury early declared the nation was ""hastening to its baptism. It is a baptism of blood."" He was resolute in denying any possible ""union with slave-holders""and also insisted ""women must be given their due rights."" Emerson admired him as a ""tough oak stock of a man not to be silenced or insulted or intimidated by a mob because he is more mob than they. He mobs the mob."" He was ""in Susan B. Anthony's eyes the Jeremiah of the anti-slavery movement"" Filler Parker Pillsbury 315 328-37.Fiercely anticlerical in his writings and in action Pillsbury would dramatically interrupt ""religious servicesÉ calling on audiences to 'come out' from their proslavery churches."" He linked most clergy to timid politicians and cautious abolitionists proclaiming them a ""brotherhood of thieves"" Robertson Hard Cold Stern Life 189. Pillsbury's 1883 memoir Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles was above all ""a fighting book."" In it he writes of his esteem for his fellow white radical Stephen S. Foster and leading Black abolitionists such as David Ruggles as well as his disdain for Lincoln; Pillsbury ""never forgot that the idolized Lincoln meant to save the Union and not necessarily to free the slaves"" Filler 336. First edition first printing: issued in brown cloth this copy and in green cloth no priority determined. Blockson 9099. See Work 304 1884 edition. This copy is inscribed to ""To Mr. & Mrs. F. M. Crosby."" It is notable that while there was a Crosby family of abolitionists in New Hampshire the identity of this copy's recipients could not be confirmed.Text pristine; tiniest bit of soiling to cloth. An especially handsome copy in fine condition. hardcover
1845réf. 1216681845. First Edition. PHILLIPS Wendell. Can Abolitionists Vote or Take Office under the United States Constitution New York: American Anti-Slavery Society 1845. Octavo half calf-gilt marbled boards; pp. 1-3 4-39 1. $1500.First edition of the provocative abolitionist's fierce attack on the ConstitutionÑproclaiming it ""an irredeemably proslavery document""Ñdeclaring its legacy implicates ""all Americans in the crimes of slaveholding"" and caused the American flag to be weighed ""heavy with blood.""An eloquent writer and orator abolitionist Wendell Phillips was the ""most important ally"" of William Lloyd Garrison who famously contended the Constitution was a ""covenant with death"" and ""an agreement with Hell."" As Garrison's ""deepest source of inspiration"" Phillips saw the ""abolitionist as the catalyst for revolution."" In this seminal work he contends ""that the U.S. Constitution was an irredeemably proslavery documentÉ and abolitionists must withdraw support from the political system because it implicated all Americans in the crimes of slaveholding"" ANB. He notes herein that since the ratification of the Constitution Americans witnessed ""slaves trebling in numbersÑslaveholders monopolizing the offices and dictating the policy of the GovernmentÉ making the courts of the country their tools.""A citizen's vote Phillips declares is ""an oath to support the ConstitutionÑthe whole of itÉ a contract with the whole nation"" emphasis in original. He cites key clauses quotes statements made by James Madison and others during its ratification and counters a series of 16 objections to the Garrisonian/Phillips position. In answering ""the question of slavery"" he states: ""we are not dealing with extreme casesÉ every sixth man is a slaveÉ the national banner clings to the flag-staff heavy with bloodÉ If the Constitution is not what history unbroken practice and the courts prove that our fathers intended to make it and what too their descendantsÉ say they did make it and agree to upholdÑwho shall decide what the Constitution is"" Scholar Paul Finkelman points out that while there now seems certain failure in the Garrisonian/Phillips position that the Constitution ""logically led to the conclusion that the free states should secede from the unionÉ in the 1830s and 40s the idea of a northern secession as a way of destroying slavery made some senseÉ what would happen if the Garrisonians accomplished their goal and the North left the Union to form a nation based on freedom instead of slavery It would be like moving the Canadian border to the Mason-Dixon line. Suddenly slavery would be threatened in Kentucky and Virginia because slaves could now escape to a free country just by crossing the Ohio River"" Making a Covenant. Phillips is widely esteemed as ""a commanding presence in the history of the nation's struggles to overcome racial and economic injustice"" ANB. First edition first printing: No. 13 The Anti-Slavery Examiner. '""Introduction"" signed in print ""Wendell Phillips. Boston Jan. 15 1845."" With ""Extracts from J.Q. Adams"" at rear. Sabin 81919. Text very fresh tiny gutter-edge-pinholes from original stitching handsomely bound. hardcover books
1845réf. 1216681845. First Edition. PHILLIPS Wendell. Can Abolitionists Vote or Take Office under the United States Constitution New York: American Anti-Slavery Society 1845. Octavo half calf-gilt marbled boards; pp. 1-3 4-39 1. $1500.First edition of the provocative abolitionist's fierce attack on the ConstitutionÑproclaiming it ""an irredeemably proslavery document""Ñdeclaring its legacy implicates ""all Americans in the crimes of slaveholding"" and caused the American flag to be weighed ""heavy with blood.""An eloquent writer and orator abolitionist Wendell Phillips was the ""most important ally"" of William Lloyd Garrison who famously contended the Constitution was a ""covenant with death"" and ""an agreement with Hell."" As Garrison's ""deepest source of inspiration"" Phillips saw the ""abolitionist as the catalyst for revolution."" In this seminal work he contends ""that the U.S. Constitution was an irredeemably proslavery documentÉ and abolitionists must withdraw support from the political system because it implicated all Americans in the crimes of slaveholding"" ANB. He notes herein that since the ratification of the Constitution Americans witnessed ""slaves trebling in numbersÑslaveholders monopolizing the offices and dictating the policy of the GovernmentÉ making the courts of the country their tools.""A citizen's vote Phillips declares is ""an oath to support the ConstitutionÑthe whole of itÉ a contract with the whole nation"" emphasis in original. He cites key clauses quotes statements made by James Madison and others during its ratification and counters a series of 16 objections to the Garrisonian/Phillips position. In answering ""the question of slavery"" he states: ""we are not dealing with extreme casesÉ every sixth man is a slaveÉ the national banner clings to the flag-staff heavy with bloodÉ If the Constitution is not what history unbroken practice and the courts prove that our fathers intended to make it and what too their descendantsÉ say they did make it and agree to upholdÑwho shall decide what the Constitution is"" Scholar Paul Finkelman points out that while there now seems certain failure in the Garrisonian/Phillips position that the Constitution ""logically led to the conclusion that the free states should secede from the unionÉ in the 1830s and 40s the idea of a northern secession as a way of destroying slavery made some senseÉ what would happen if the Garrisonians accomplished their goal and the North left the Union to form a nation based on freedom instead of slavery It would be like moving the Canadian border to the Mason-Dixon line. Suddenly slavery would be threatened in Kentucky and Virginia because slaves could now escape to a free country just by crossing the Ohio River"" Making a Covenant. Phillips is widely esteemed as ""a commanding presence in the history of the nation's struggles to overcome racial and economic injustice"" ANB. First edition first printing: No. 13 The Anti-Slavery Examiner. '""Introduction"" signed in print ""Wendell Phillips. Boston Jan. 15 1845."" With ""Extracts from J.Q. Adams"" at rear. Sabin 81919. Text very fresh tiny gutter-edge-pinholes from original stitching handsomely bound. hardcover
1845réf. 24737Mary B. Selden was the grandmother of Eleanor Love Selden who married John Augustine Washington III in 1843. She regrets not being able to furnish Washington with the services of one of her slaves as a stacker for the upcoming wheat harvest. Still a faithful employee West Ford worked for the Washington family well into the nineteenth century including delivering this letter. The letter includes a list of two dozen slaves written in pencil by John Augustine Washington III. SLAVERY. MOUNT VERNON. WEST FORD. MARY BOWLES ARMISTEAD SELDEN. Autograph Letter Signed to John Augustine Washington III hand delivered by West Ford; JOHN AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON III. Autograph List of Slaves. Single folio leaf with autograph address on verso. Alexandria Virginia 1845. Complete Transcript My dear Augustine I am very sorry to be unable to render you the service you require. I have a very fine stacker but he is hired by the year to Mr Young as I did not expect to have employment enough for him at Mt Ida. Another year if you wish it you can have him I receive very small wages for him and as a stacker I have never known any one equal to him. I am very sorry to hear that Nelly is sick. I hope she will be well enough to come up and meet the bridal party on thursday. I received a letter from Eliza to day in which she says they will be at Mt Ida that day but will bring no company with them. It will give great pleasure to them and to me if Mrs Washington Nelly and yourself will come up on that day. Mrs Lippitt will have a room ready for any of the party that will favour her with their company she must by no means be left behind. Most truly and affectionately / yrs M. B. Selden <2> Address: John A. Washington Esq. / Mt Vernon / By West Ford Docketing by John Augustine Washington III: Mrs. M. B. Selden List of slaves in pencil by John Augustine Washington III: Phil b. 1790 Hannah b. 1826 Gabe b. 1820 Eliza b. 1811 Ned b. 1827 Jim Michum b. 1795 Edmund b. 1827 John b. 1833 Betty b. 1833 Mary b. 1819 West Fanny "Belongs to my wife" Sarah b. 1809 Dennis b. 1838 Hannah Nelly b. 1836 William b. 1830 Jim Starks b. 1805 Joe b. 1832 Sally b. 1827 Ephraim b. 1834 Tom b. 1835 "bound to me till Oct 1856" West b. 1838 Jesse b. 1785 Historical Background Farmers in mid-nineteenth-century Virginia typically planted winter wheat in September and October and harvested it in the following June. After wheat had been cut a stacker tied the wheat into bundles and piled the bundles in shocks to dry in the field. After the shocks dried they would be stored in a barn or carefully built stack capped with grass to shed the rain until threshing time. Even after Cyrus McCormick developed his mechanical grain reaper in the 1830s men needed to follow the machine to bundle and stack the wheat. Building a good stack was an important skill and those workers free or enslaved who knew how to do so were very valuable at harvest time. Mary Bowles Armistead Alexander Selden 1783-1846 was born in Hanover Virginia. She married Charles Alexander Jr. 1772-1812 with whom she had five children including Louisa Elizabeth Fontaine Alexander 1802-1827. After her first husband's death she married Dr. Wilson Cary Selden 1761-1835. She was his third wife and they had three children. By his first wife Dr. Selden was the father of Wilson Cary Selden Jr. 1796-1843. In 1822 Wilson Cary Selden Jr. married Louisa Elizabeth Fontaine Alexander and they became the parents of Eleanor Love Selden 1824-1860 who married John A. Washington III. Thus Mary Bowles Selden was both the grandmother and step-grandmother of Eleanor Nelly Washington. At the time she wrote this letter she was living at Mount Ida a 6000-acre plantation that stretched along two miles of the Potomac River north of Alexandria Virginia and fewer than ten miles from Mount Vernon. Her first husband built the neoclassical mansion of Mount Ida in 1808. John Augustine Washington III 1821-1861 was born in Blakeley West Virginia the son of John Augustine Washington II and Jane Charlotte Blackburn Washington and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1840. His father inherited George Washington's Mount Vernon estate in 1829 but it passed to his wife at his death in 1832. In 1841 Augustine Washington proposed to manage Mount Vernon for his mother. When she died in 1855 the plantation passed to him. In 1858 after offering the property to both the federal government and to the State of Virginia he sold 200 acres of the Mount Vernon estate including the mansion outbuildings and family tomb to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association for $200000. Washington married Eleanor Nelly Love Selden 1824-1860 in 1843 and they had seven children. In 1860 he owned 22 slaves. In 1861 Washington joined the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel and served as an aide-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee. He was killed while conducting reconnaissance at the Battle of Cheat Mountain in September 1861. West Ford ca. 1784-1863 was born on the Bushfield Plantation in Westmoreland County Virginia to an enslaved woman owned by George Washington's brother John Augustine Washington. When George Washington visited West Ford was his personal attendant. When John Augustine Washington's widow Hannah died in 1802 she granted Ford his freedom at age 21. Bushrod Washington George Washington's nephew and heir to Mount Vernon freed Ford in 1806 and Ford continued working for the Washington family. According to family oral history Ford's mother Venus told her mistress Hannah Washington that he was George Washington's son. Nearly all historians doubt the claim though one of Washington's nephews certainly could have been the father. In 1812 West Ford married Priscella Bell a free woman. Their four children—William Daniel Jane and Julia—were educated on the Mount Vernon Plantation despite laws which restricted the instruction of African Americans. When Bushrod Washington died in 1829 he willed 160 acres of land adjacent to Mount Vernon to West Ford who continued to live on the Mount Vernon estate. Over the next several years West Ford was frequently highlighted in the media making his private life a matter of public record. In 1850 two Virginia newspapers—the Alexandria Gazette and the Virginia Advertiser—carried articles describing his prestigious position and authority at Mount Vernon. In 1857 an entry in the Fairfax County Deed Books noted that Ford divided his land among his four children. In 1858 Ford was sketched a second time this time by historian and artist Benson Lossing. In March 1859 Harper's New Monthly Magazine published Lossing's feature on Mount Vernon and included his sketch of Ford. Ford told the reporter of his property on Little Hunting Creek where he planned to retire after the Washington estate was no longer in the Washington family. In June 1863 an ailing West Ford was brought back to the Mount Vernon estate by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The association cared for West Ford until his death on July 20 1863. Condition Foxing and show through particularly near the signature. books
1809réf. 1187761809. First Edition. SLAVERYÑABOLITION MONTGOMERY James GRAHAME James and BENGER Elizabeth. Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade. London: Printed for R. Bowyer 1809 i.e. 1810. Tall quarto contemporary brown calf gilt rebacked with original spine laid down raised bands marbled endpapers and edges. $2000.First edition of famed publisher and artist BowyerÕs richly illustrated volume featuring eloquent anti-slavery poems by Montgomery Grahame and Benger a major antislavery work issued shortly after BritainÕs abolition of the slave trade with engraved portraits of abolitionists Sharpe Clarkson and Wilberforce engraved allegorical title page and nine full-page engravings after paintings by artist Sir Robert Smirke a handsome wide-margined copy in contemporary boards.This handsomely illustrated volume features three epic poemsÑMontgomery's The West Indies Grahame's Africa Delivered and Elizabeth Benger's A Poem Occasioned by the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1806. All were ""commissioned by the London publisher Robert Bowyer for inclusion in a lavish volume of antislavery poetryÉ timed to celebrate the abolition of the slave trade"" Basker Amazing Grace 612. With biographies and engraved full-page medallion portraits of leading British abolitionists Sharpe Clarkson and Wilberforce Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade is especially noted for its nine full-page engravings and the allegorical title page vignette engraved by Scriven and Worthington after paintings by renowned artist Sir Robert Smirke whose works were considered ""gems in the art of history painting"" American Daily Advertiser. On presenting a copy to George III Bowyer described this as a ""most beautifully embellished volume of Poems which have been written expressly for the occasion on the Abolition of the Slave Trade"" Baptist Quarterly 35. Poems won early critical praise as an ""elegant publication on the Abolition of this traffic and we congratulate the poets the artist and the editor"" Monthly Review. First edition: plates dated ""Dec. 1 1809""; portraits dated ""Jan 1 1810."" With engraved and letterpress title pages. With directions to the binder leaf bound in at rear. Lowndes 1591. Goldsmiths 19923. Kress B5549. Sabin 50145. Benezit IX:656. Occasional faint foxing chiefly marginal. A near-fine copy scarce and desirable in contemporary binding. hardcover books
1845réf. 24737Mary B. Selden was the grandmother of Eleanor Love Selden who married John Augustine Washington III in 1843. She regrets not being able to furnish Washington with the services of one of her slaves as a stacker for the upcoming wheat harvest. Still a faithful employee West Ford worked for the Washington family well into the nineteenth century including delivering this letter. The letter includes a list of two dozen slaves written in pencil by John Augustine Washington III. SLAVERY. MOUNT VERNON. WEST FORD. MARY BOWLES ARMISTEAD SELDEN. Autograph Letter Signed to John Augustine Washington III hand delivered by West Ford; JOHN AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON III. Autograph List of Slaves. Single folio leaf with autograph address on verso. Alexandria Virginia 1845. Complete Transcript My dear Augustine I am very sorry to be unable to render you the service you require. I have a very fine stacker but he is hired by the year to Mr Young as I did not expect to have employment enough for him at Mt Ida. Another year if you wish it you can have him I receive very small wages for him and as a stacker I have never known any one equal to him. I am very sorry to hear that Nelly is sick. I hope she will be well enough to come up and meet the bridal party on thursday. I received a letter from Eliza to day in which she says they will be at Mt Ida that day but will bring no company with them. It will give great pleasure to them and to me if Mrs Washington Nelly and yourself will come up on that day. Mrs Lippitt will have a room ready for any of the party that will favour her with their company she must by no means be left behind. Most truly and affectionately / yrs M. B. Selden <2> Address: John A. Washington Esq. / Mt Vernon / By West Ford Docketing by John Augustine Washington III: Mrs. M. B. Selden List of slaves in pencil by John Augustine Washington III: Phil b. 1790 Hannah b. 1826 Gabe b. 1820 Eliza b. 1811 Ned b. 1827 Jim Michum b. 1795 Edmund b. 1827 John b. 1833 Betty b. 1833 Mary b. 1819 West Fanny "Belongs to my wife" Sarah b. 1809 Dennis b. 1838 Hannah Nelly b. 1836 William b. 1830 Jim Starks b. 1805 Joe b. 1832 Sally b. 1827 Ephraim b. 1834 Tom b. 1835 "bound to me till Oct 1856" West b. 1838 Jesse b. 1785 Historical Background Farmers in mid-nineteenth-century Virginia typically planted winter wheat in September and October and harvested it in the following June. After wheat had been cut a stacker tied the wheat into bundles and piled the bundles in shocks to dry in the field. After the shocks dried they would be stored in a barn or carefully built stack capped with grass to shed the rain until threshing time. Even after Cyrus McCormick developed his mechanical grain reaper in the 1830s men needed to follow the machine to bundle and stack the wheat. Building a good stack was an important skill and those workers free or enslaved who knew how to do so were very valuable at harvest time. Mary Bowles Armistead Alexander Selden 1783-1846 was born in Hanover Virginia. She married Charles Alexander Jr. 1772-1812 with whom she had five children including Louisa Elizabeth Fontaine Alexander 1802-1827. After her first husband's death she married Dr. Wilson Cary Selden 1761-1835. She was his third wife and they had three children. By his first wife Dr. Selden was the father of Wilson Cary Selden Jr. 1796-1843. In 1822 Wilson Cary Selden Jr. married Louisa Elizabeth Fontaine Alexander and they became the parents of Eleanor Love Selden 1824-1860 who married John A. Washington III. Thus Mary Bowles Selden was both the grandmother and step-grandmother of Eleanor Nelly Washington. At the time she wrote this letter she was living at Mount Ida a 6000-acre plantation that stretched along two miles of the Potomac River north of Alexandria Virginia and fewer than ten miles from Mount Vernon. Her first husband built the neoclassical mansion of Mount Ida in 1808. John Augustine Washington III 1821-1861 was born in Blakeley West Virginia the son of John Augustine Washington II and Jane Charlotte Blackburn Washington and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1840. His father inherited George Washington's Mount Vernon estate in 1829 but it passed to his wife at his death in 1832. In 1841 Augustine Washington proposed to manage Mount Vernon for his mother. When she died in 1855 the plantation passed to him. In 1858 after offering the property to both the federal government and to the State of Virginia he sold 200 acres of the Mount Vernon estate including the mansion outbuildings and family tomb to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association for $200000. Washington married Eleanor Nelly Love Selden 1824-1860 in 1843 and they had seven children. In 1860 he owned 22 slaves. In 1861 Washington joined the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel and served as an aide-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee. He was killed while conducting reconnaissance at the Battle of Cheat Mountain in September 1861. West Ford ca. 1784-1863 was born on the Bushfield Plantation in Westmoreland County Virginia to an enslaved woman owned by George Washington's brother John Augustine Washington. When George Washington visited West Ford was his personal attendant. When John Augustine Washington's widow Hannah died in 1802 she granted Ford his freedom at age 21. Bushrod Washington George Washington's nephew and heir to Mount Vernon freed Ford in 1806 and Ford continued working for the Washington family. According to family oral history Ford's mother Venus told her mistress Hannah Washington that he was George Washington's son. Nearly all historians doubt the claim though one of Washington's nephews certainly could have been the father. In 1812 West Ford married Priscella Bell a free woman. Their four children—William Daniel Jane and Julia—were educated on the Mount Vernon Plantation despite laws which restricted the instruction of African Americans. When Bushrod Washington died in 1829 he willed 160 acres of land adjacent to Mount Vernon to West Ford who continued to live on the Mount Vernon estate. Over the next several years West Ford was frequently highlighted in the media making his private life a matter of public record. In 1850 two Virginia newspapers—the Alexandria Gazette and the Virginia Advertiser—carried articles describing his prestigious position and authority at Mount Vernon. In 1857 an entry in the Fairfax County Deed Books noted that Ford divided his land among his four children. In 1858 Ford was sketched a second time this time by historian and artist Benson Lossing. In March 1859 Harper's New Monthly Magazine published Lossing's feature on Mount Vernon and included his sketch of Ford. Ford told the reporter of his property on Little Hunting Creek where he planned to retire after the Washington estate was no longer in the Washington family. In June 1863 an ailing West Ford was brought back to the Mount Vernon estate by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The association cared for West Ford until his death on July 20 1863. Condition Foxing and show through particularly near the signature.
1809réf. 1187761809. First Edition. SLAVERYÑABOLITION MONTGOMERY James GRAHAME James and BENGER Elizabeth. Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade. London: Printed for R. Bowyer 1809 i.e. 1810. Tall quarto contemporary brown calf gilt rebacked with original spine laid down raised bands marbled endpapers and edges. $2000.First edition of famed publisher and artist BowyerÕs richly illustrated volume featuring eloquent anti-slavery poems by Montgomery Grahame and Benger a major antislavery work issued shortly after BritainÕs abolition of the slave trade with engraved portraits of abolitionists Sharpe Clarkson and Wilberforce engraved allegorical title page and nine full-page engravings after paintings by artist Sir Robert Smirke a handsome wide-margined copy in contemporary boards.This handsomely illustrated volume features three epic poemsÑMontgomery's The West Indies Grahame's Africa Delivered and Elizabeth Benger's A Poem Occasioned by the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1806. All were ""commissioned by the London publisher Robert Bowyer for inclusion in a lavish volume of antislavery poetryÉ timed to celebrate the abolition of the slave trade"" Basker Amazing Grace 612. With biographies and engraved full-page medallion portraits of leading British abolitionists Sharpe Clarkson and Wilberforce Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade is especially noted for its nine full-page engravings and the allegorical title page vignette engraved by Scriven and Worthington after paintings by renowned artist Sir Robert Smirke whose works were considered ""gems in the art of history painting"" American Daily Advertiser. On presenting a copy to George III Bowyer described this as a ""most beautifully embellished volume of Poems which have been written expressly for the occasion on the Abolition of the Slave Trade"" Baptist Quarterly 35. Poems won early critical praise as an ""elegant publication on the Abolition of this traffic and we congratulate the poets the artist and the editor"" Monthly Review. First edition: plates dated ""Dec. 1 1809""; portraits dated ""Jan 1 1810."" With engraved and letterpress title pages. With directions to the binder leaf bound in at rear. Lowndes 1591. Goldsmiths 19923. Kress B5549. Sabin 50145. Benezit IX:656. Occasional faint foxing chiefly marginal. A near-fine copy scarce and desirable in contemporary binding. hardcover
1897réf. 185871897. Albumen photographs of slavery-related sites circa 1890s document physical locations tied to the sale and habitation of enslaved people in the United States and the persistence of those sites in post-Emancipation visual culture. The images include a pavilion in St. Augustine Florida identified in contemporary sources as a site where enslaved Africans were bought and sold a photographic negative depicting outbuildings identified as Mississippi slave quarters and a mounted view of the González Alvarez House a colonial structure associated with early settlement in St. Augustine. Together the photographs provide material evidence of how spaces connected to slavery were recorded labeled and circulated in the late nineteenth century linking architectural survival to the historical memory of enslavement in both the Southeast and the Gulf South. Collection of three albumen photographs. United States circa 1890s. One mounted photograph approximately 3 3/16 x 3 inches bears the ink inscription "Old Slave Market Cathedral St. Augustine Fla." and depicts the waterfront pavilion constructed in the early nineteenth century originally used as a commercial market and identified in local records as a site of slave trading. One photographic negative approximately 3 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches shows three small structures identified as Mississippi slave quarters. One mounted photograph approximately 3 1/8 x 2 5/8 inches is inscribed "Oldest house in St. Augustine Fla. Built in the early 1700s" depicting the González Alvarez House. Mounts and inscriptions indicate a documentary intent linking the images to historically significant sites. By the late nineteenth century sites associated with slavery were being reframed within local historical narratives often presented as landmarks while still retaining traces of their earlier function within systems of forced labor and sale. The identification of the St. Augustine pavilion as a slave market in inscription and record aligns the image with documented urban sites of sale in Spanish and later American Florida while the Mississippi quarters image extends the archive into the plantation landscape of the postbellum South. The grouping provides a concise visual record of how structures tied to enslavement were preserved interpreted and circulated in photographic form decades after abolition. Minor adhesive residue to one mount small tear to negative and light toning and staining to mounts; overall good condition. unknown books
1897réf. 185871897. Albumen photographs of slavery-related sites circa 1890s document physical locations tied to the sale and habitation of enslaved people in the United States and the persistence of those sites in post-Emancipation visual culture. The images include a pavilion in St. Augustine Florida identified in contemporary sources as a site where enslaved Africans were bought and sold a photographic negative depicting outbuildings identified as Mississippi slave quarters and a mounted view of the González Alvarez House a colonial structure associated with early settlement in St. Augustine. Together the photographs provide material evidence of how spaces connected to slavery were recorded labeled and circulated in the late nineteenth century linking architectural survival to the historical memory of enslavement in both the Southeast and the Gulf South. Collection of three albumen photographs. United States circa 1890s. One mounted photograph approximately 3 3/16 x 3 inches bears the ink inscription "Old Slave Market Cathedral St. Augustine Fla." and depicts the waterfront pavilion constructed in the early nineteenth century originally used as a commercial market and identified in local records as a site of slave trading. One photographic negative approximately 3 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches shows three small structures identified as Mississippi slave quarters. One mounted photograph approximately 3 1/8 x 2 5/8 inches is inscribed "Oldest house in St. Augustine Fla. Built in the early 1700s" depicting the González Alvarez House. Mounts and inscriptions indicate a documentary intent linking the images to historically significant sites. By the late nineteenth century sites associated with slavery were being reframed within local historical narratives often presented as landmarks while still retaining traces of their earlier function within systems of forced labor and sale. The identification of the St. Augustine pavilion as a slave market in inscription and record aligns the image with documented urban sites of sale in Spanish and later American Florida while the Mississippi quarters image extends the archive into the plantation landscape of the postbellum South. The grouping provides a concise visual record of how structures tied to enslavement were preserved interpreted and circulated in photographic form decades after abolition. Minor adhesive residue to one mount small tear to negative and light toning and staining to mounts; overall good condition. unknown
1836réf. 175381836. This pamphlet is a return to an Address of the House of Commons from March 25 1836 whereby the Agent of Jamaica William Burge protests against the unilateral abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Ordered to be printed by the House of Commons in London April 1836. 13 pages. 13" x 8.25" inches. Included within is a copy of three letters from the Agent to Lord Glenelg the British colonial secretary as well Burge's protest to Glenelg. Burge states: He is desirous that His Majesty's Government should understand that this Protest is made not as the performance of a formal act of official duty but from his conviction that the proposed legislation for Jamaica is a direct violation of the constitutional rights of that Colony rights coeval with its establishment and which have hitherto been respected." The Agent was a colonial official who was the official representative of a British colony who was based in London and acted as lobbyists and trade negotiators for the affairs of the colony. While Burge had at other times claimed to "hate" slavery he employs the British analogue of the "states rights'" argument that many moderate politicians in the United States used to signal personal distaste for slavery but to nonetheless protect the institution's existence on the basis of constitutionality. When the institution of slavery died out in the British Empire after 1836 the abolitionist movement in the US gained tremendous momentum despite the protests of our own William Burge's. This piece is overall in very good condition. unknown books
1836réf. 175381836. This pamphlet is a return to an Address of the House of Commons from March 25 1836 whereby the Agent of Jamaica William Burge protests against the unilateral abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Ordered to be printed by the House of Commons in London April 1836. 13 pages. 13" x 8.25" inches. Included within is a copy of three letters from the Agent to Lord Glenelg the British colonial secretary as well Burge's protest to Glenelg. Burge states: He is desirous that His Majesty's Government should understand that this Protest is made not as the performance of a formal act of official duty but from his conviction that the proposed legislation for Jamaica is a direct violation of the constitutional rights of that Colony rights coeval with its establishment and which have hitherto been respected." The Agent was a colonial official who was the official representative of a British colony who was based in London and acted as lobbyists and trade negotiators for the affairs of the colony. While Burge had at other times claimed to "hate" slavery he employs the British analogue of the "states rights'" argument that many moderate politicians in the United States used to signal personal distaste for slavery but to nonetheless protect the institution's existence on the basis of constitutionality. When the institution of slavery died out in the British Empire after 1836 the abolitionist movement in the US gained tremendous momentum despite the protests of our own William Burge's. This piece is overall in very good condition. unknown
1870réf. 231221870. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of four enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world. The document records the sale of four enslaved people described as "criollos" and African-born individuals situating the transaction within a labor system that combined locally born and imported enslaved populations. Created at a time when Spain had formally restricted the transatlantic slave trade but continued to permit slavery itself the manuscript demonstrates the persistence of legalized human commodification and the integration of enslaved labor into the island's economic structure sixteen years prior to abolition in 1886. Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of four enslaved individuals to Don Pedro Catasús by Don Enfemia Ochoa for the sum of 1100 pesos on November 29 1870. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink measuring 8.25" x 12". A green "50 cs de escudo" revenue stamp is affixed at the top center with a blind embossed Spanish crest at the upper left and a circular black ink government seal impressed at the lower left. Large vertical docketing appears on the verso. A stylized watermark is visible within the paper. The text organizes the enslaved individuals within a standardized transactional structure while the signatures of Enfemia Ochoa Pedro Catasús and A. Díaz de Rada authenticate the exchange and identify participants within the slaveholding economy. By 1870 Cuba remained a central node in the late Atlantic slave system with plantation agriculture especially sugar dependent on enslaved labor despite mounting abolitionist pressure. Although Spain had curtailed official slave imports earlier in the century illegal trafficking persisted into the 1860s and other coerced labor systems including the importation of Chinese indentured workers overlapped with slavery into the 1870s. The presence of both Creole and African individuals in this document reflects the layered composition of the enslaved population during this period. Light toning scattered foxing and edge wear visible. A closed wormhole extends from the upper right margin approximately five inches into the sheet resulting in partial loss of text. Evidence of prior tape reinforcement visible on the verso along with offsetting from previously adjacent material. Overall in very good condition. This document provides named transactional evidence of late-period slavery in Cuba offering concrete material for examining race labor and legal practice within Spanish colonial society. unknown books
1870réf. 231191870. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial manuscript documenting the late persistence of slavery in Cuba recording the sale of five enslaved Creole individuals including women and children 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world. The presence of multiple children within the transaction underscores the hereditary nature of enslavement and the commodification of family units offering direct material evidence of how slavery functioned socially and economically in its final decades on the island. Although Spain had formally ended the transatlantic slave trade earlier in the century illegal trafficking and internal slave markets persisted and slavery itself would not be abolished in Cuba until 1886 placing this document within a crucial transitional period marked by reform debates gradual emancipation laws and continued exploitation. Official Cuban slave contract recording the sale of five enslaved individuals identified as "criollos" including one adult woman and four children from Santiago Simón Fambi to Don Pedro Catasús for the sum of 1200 pesos on November 21 1870. Single page manuscript leaf measuring 8.25" x 12". The manuscript is written in Spanish cursive hand in black ink. The upper left bears a blind embossed crest of Spain while a circular black ink government seal is impressed at the lower left partially overlapping the text. The text enumerates the enslaved individuals with ages and names embedding human lives within the formulaic language of sale and valuation while the bold signatures of both seller Santiago Simón Fambi and buyer Pedro Catasús anchor the transaction in identifiable actors within the colonial economy. By 1870 slavery in Spanish Cuba remained central to the island's plantation economy particularly in sugar production which had expanded rapidly in the mid-19th century with industrialized mills and global demand. Enslaved people were primarily forced into agricultural labor under highly regimented and brutal conditions though others were used in urban domestic service skilled trades or as hired laborers generating income for their owners. This document exhibits light toning edge wear and scattered foxing throughout. A closed wormhole extends approximately two inches from the upper right margin inward not affecting legibility of the text. Minor losses and small tears along the edges. Overall in very good condition. Given that this document records a woman and four children the family was likely intended for a combination of field labor and domestic or auxiliary work with the children gradually incorporated into plantation labor as they aged reflecting the system's reliance on both immediate exploitation and the reproduction of enslaved labor over time. unknown books
1875réf. 231241875. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of thirty-eight enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1875 materializing the sheer scale and organization of enslaved labor within the island's plantation economy during the final decade before abolition. The document enumerates a large group of enslaved people including multiple family units with young children demonstrating how slavery functioned as both an economic system and a hereditary condition sustained through the sale and reproduction of enslaved populations. Created eleven years prior to the abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886 the manuscript documents the continued legality and normalization of large-scale slave transactions despite decades of international pressure and earlier prohibitions on the transatlantic trade offering concrete evidence of how internal markets sustained the institution in its final phase. Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of thirty-eight enslaved individuals for the sum of 126000 pesetas formalized before a public notary or legal authority. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink on both recto and verso densely filled with names ages and relational identifiers. Measures 8.5" x 12.25". The text lists individuals sequentially including men women and children with repeated references to kinship structures such as mothers with multiple children indicating the sale of family groupings rather than isolated individuals. The script reflects extended passages detailing ownership exclusions and conditions of transfer. A partial watermark of the official coat of arms of Cuba is visible. By 1875 Cuba remained one of the last major slave societies in the Atlantic world with sugar production driving demand for large controlled labor forces. Even after Spain curtailed the official slave trade earlier in the century illegal importation persisted into the 1860s and alternative systems of coerced labor including Chinese indenture supplemented plantation workforces. The scale of this transaction demonstrates the consolidation and redistribution of enslaved labor within domestic markets while the inclusion of children underscores the long-term economic logic of slavery as a self-reproducing system. Moderate toning and foxing concentrated along the edges with numerous small closed wormholes a few affecting portions of the text. Light edge wear present. Overall in good condition. This document provides unusually extensive nominal data on a large enslaved population encompassing the roles of kinship valuation and labor organization in late Spanish colonial Cuba. unknown books
1870réf. 231221870. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of four enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world. The document records the sale of four enslaved people described as "criollos" and African-born individuals situating the transaction within a labor system that combined locally born and imported enslaved populations. Created at a time when Spain had formally restricted the transatlantic slave trade but continued to permit slavery itself the manuscript demonstrates the persistence of legalized human commodification and the integration of enslaved labor into the island's economic structure sixteen years prior to abolition in 1886. Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of four enslaved individuals to Don Pedro Catasús by Don Enfemia Ochoa for the sum of 1100 pesos on November 29 1870. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink measuring 8.25" x 12". A green "50 cs de escudo" revenue stamp is affixed at the top center with a blind embossed Spanish crest at the upper left and a circular black ink government seal impressed at the lower left. Large vertical docketing appears on the verso. A stylized watermark is visible within the paper. The text organizes the enslaved individuals within a standardized transactional structure while the signatures of Enfemia Ochoa Pedro Catasús and A. Díaz de Rada authenticate the exchange and identify participants within the slaveholding economy. By 1870 Cuba remained a central node in the late Atlantic slave system with plantation agriculture especially sugar dependent on enslaved labor despite mounting abolitionist pressure. Although Spain had curtailed official slave imports earlier in the century illegal trafficking persisted into the 1860s and other coerced labor systems including the importation of Chinese indentured workers overlapped with slavery into the 1870s. The presence of both Creole and African individuals in this document reflects the layered composition of the enslaved population during this period. Light toning scattered foxing and edge wear visible. A closed wormhole extends from the upper right margin approximately five inches into the sheet resulting in partial loss of text. Evidence of prior tape reinforcement visible on the verso along with offsetting from previously adjacent material. Overall in very good condition. This document provides named transactional evidence of late-period slavery in Cuba offering concrete material for examining race labor and legal practice within Spanish colonial society. unknown
1875réf. 231241875. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of thirty-eight enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1875 materializing the sheer scale and organization of enslaved labor within the island's plantation economy during the final decade before abolition. The document enumerates a large group of enslaved people including multiple family units with young children demonstrating how slavery functioned as both an economic system and a hereditary condition sustained through the sale and reproduction of enslaved populations. Created eleven years prior to the abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886 the manuscript documents the continued legality and normalization of large-scale slave transactions despite decades of international pressure and earlier prohibitions on the transatlantic trade offering concrete evidence of how internal markets sustained the institution in its final phase. Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of thirty-eight enslaved individuals for the sum of 126000 pesetas formalized before a public notary or legal authority. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink on both recto and verso densely filled with names ages and relational identifiers. Measures 8.5" x 12.25". The text lists individuals sequentially including men women and children with repeated references to kinship structures such as mothers with multiple children indicating the sale of family groupings rather than isolated individuals. The script reflects extended passages detailing ownership exclusions and conditions of transfer. A partial watermark of the official coat of arms of Cuba is visible. By 1875 Cuba remained one of the last major slave societies in the Atlantic world with sugar production driving demand for large controlled labor forces. Even after Spain curtailed the official slave trade earlier in the century illegal importation persisted into the 1860s and alternative systems of coerced labor including Chinese indenture supplemented plantation workforces. The scale of this transaction demonstrates the consolidation and redistribution of enslaved labor within domestic markets while the inclusion of children underscores the long-term economic logic of slavery as a self-reproducing system. Moderate toning and foxing concentrated along the edges with numerous small closed wormholes a few affecting portions of the text. Light edge wear present. Overall in good condition. This document provides unusually extensive nominal data on a large enslaved population encompassing the roles of kinship valuation and labor organization in late Spanish colonial Cuba. unknown
1870réf. 231191870. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial manuscript documenting the late persistence of slavery in Cuba recording the sale of five enslaved Creole individuals including women and children 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world. The presence of multiple children within the transaction underscores the hereditary nature of enslavement and the commodification of family units offering direct material evidence of how slavery functioned socially and economically in its final decades on the island. Although Spain had formally ended the transatlantic slave trade earlier in the century illegal trafficking and internal slave markets persisted and slavery itself would not be abolished in Cuba until 1886 placing this document within a crucial transitional period marked by reform debates gradual emancipation laws and continued exploitation. Official Cuban slave contract recording the sale of five enslaved individuals identified as "criollos" including one adult woman and four children from Santiago Simón Fambi to Don Pedro Catasús for the sum of 1200 pesos on November 21 1870. Single page manuscript leaf measuring 8.25" x 12". The manuscript is written in Spanish cursive hand in black ink. The upper left bears a blind embossed crest of Spain while a circular black ink government seal is impressed at the lower left partially overlapping the text. The text enumerates the enslaved individuals with ages and names embedding human lives within the formulaic language of sale and valuation while the bold signatures of both seller Santiago Simón Fambi and buyer Pedro Catasús anchor the transaction in identifiable actors within the colonial economy. By 1870 slavery in Spanish Cuba remained central to the island's plantation economy particularly in sugar production which had expanded rapidly in the mid-19th century with industrialized mills and global demand. Enslaved people were primarily forced into agricultural labor under highly regimented and brutal conditions though others were used in urban domestic service skilled trades or as hired laborers generating income for their owners. This document exhibits light toning edge wear and scattered foxing throughout. A closed wormhole extends approximately two inches from the upper right margin inward not affecting legibility of the text. Minor losses and small tears along the edges. Overall in very good condition. Given that this document records a woman and four children the family was likely intended for a combination of field labor and domestic or auxiliary work with the children gradually incorporated into plantation labor as they aged reflecting the system's reliance on both immediate exploitation and the reproduction of enslaved labor over time. unknown
1840réf. 1132391840. First Edition. SLAVERY BUXTON Thomas Fowell. The African Slave Trade and its Remedy. London: John Murray 1840. Octavooriginal brown clothuncut and partially unopened; pp.14 viii 3 6-273 274-276 i ii-vi 277 278-582. $2800.First expanded and revised edition of British abolitionist Buxton's powerful call for an end to the slave trade the first to include his extensive and influential Remedy two major works that followed the lead of Wilberforce in calling for treaties and commerce to end the slave trade and outlined a way to ""secure the regeneration of Africa through agricultural development"" with large folding map a handsome copy in original cloth.Quaker Thomas Buxton was in Parliament when in 1824 Wilberforce asked him to become his successor. ""In 1789 Wilberforce had begged Parliament to 'make reparation to AfricaÉ by establishing a trade upon true commercial principlesÉ Fifty years later Buxton redeveloped this appeal in The African Slave TradeÉ To support his vision Buxton formed the African Civilization Society July 1839."" In this first expanded edition of African Slave Trade 1839Ñthe first to include his RemedyÑBuxton argues for the ""agricultural colonization of West Africa and the development of a broad-based commerce that could undercut the economic dominance of the illicit slave trade"" Hopkins Peter Thonning 615. He documents the horrors of the Middle Passage to show that despite all efforts to end the slave trade ""twice as many human beings are now its victims as when Wilberforce and Clarkson entered upon their noble task."" And in Remedy he further develops his argument: showing how ""legitimate commerce would put down the Slave Trade by demonstrating the superior value of man as a laborer on the soil to man as an object of merchandise.""With African Slave Trade and its Remedy Buxton powerfully ""synthesized contemporary currents of thought developed the arguments about the relationship between abolition and African improvement more systematically than before and then catapulted them to national prominenceÉ His views prevailed. The belief that the only way to suppress the African slave trade was to promote 'legitimate commerce' and that this new trade would launch Africa on the road to moral and material progress became the conventional wisdom in mid-19th-century Britain."" Among those he convinced was David Livingstone who as ""an unknown medical student attended the 1840 meeting of the African Civilization Society where Buxton first announced his remedy for the slave trade. What Livingstone heard on that occasion helped inspire a lifetime of work and travel on the continent"" Mann Slavery and the Birth of an African City 88-90. First expanded and revised edition: first to include Buxton's Remedy which was issued separately in 1839. Precedes the first American edition. With folding map of ""Central Africa."" Paginated as issued without loss of text. With 14-page ""Prospectus of the Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and for the Civilization of Africa"" preceding title page. Sabin 9685. Goldsmith's 31743. Kress C5121 See Goldsmith's 31181; Kress C4818; Blockson 9121. Interior fresh with light foxing to folding map as often front inner paper hinge starting but very sound mild rubbing and toning to bright original cloth. A desirable near-fine copy. hardcover books
1854réf. 1266841854. First Edition. SLAVERY BURNS Anthony. Boston Slave Riot and Trial of Anthony Burns. Boston: Fetridge 1854. Slim octavo modern half calf and marbled boards. $3000.First edition of a seminal pre-Civil War pamphlet on the 1854 arrest and Boston trial of fugitive slave Anthony Burns whose return to his Virginia slave owner at the order of the Boston court sparked public fury and ""set Boston on its ear in the spring of 1854"" inspiring Whitman to write his Boston Ballad and Thoreau to deliver his speech Slavery in Massachusetts to a July 4 1854 antislavery rally.The trial of fugitive slave Anthony Burns which ""set Boston on its ear in the spring of 1854É.was nothing less than a pocket revolution"" Von Frank Trials of Anthony Burns xii. The arrest and trial in Boston of Burns whose Virginia slave-owner Suttle followed him there was ""one of the most dramatic and famous incidents in the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act."" When Boston Commissioner Loring signed Burns' arrest warrant Richard Henry Dana Jr. and Charles Ellis immediately volunteered to defend Burns. On ""May 26 there was a mass meeting in Faneuil Hall to protest Burns' arrest. This meeting was followed by a poorly planned and disastrously executedÉ attempt to rescue BurnsÉ Despite conflicting testimony and imperfect evidence provided by Suttle Loring declared Burns was indeed Suttle's slave."" With that Burns was taken from the courtroom and through streets crowded with his supporters then placed aboard a ship ""for return to Virginia. The trial and removal of Burns from Boston created one of the great spectacles of the late antebellum period"" Finkelman 107-112.""The Burns case made slavery appear to Northerners as an immediate threatÉ Walt Whitman was impelled to write an ironic piece A Boston Ballad soon to be incorporated into his revolutionary volume Leaves of GrassÉ At an antislavery rally in Framingham Massachusetts on July 4É William Lloyd Garrison burned copies of the Fugitive Slave Law and the Constitution as the large crowd chanted 'Amen!' Thoreau delivered his speech Slavery in Massachusetts declaring that the American system had lost its integrity and purityÉ The antislavery sentiment bred by the case helped give birth to the Republican Party which in turn fostered Lincoln's Presidency the South's secession and the Civil War"" New York Times. Containing ""valuable primary source material about the trial and the events surrounding it"" including testimony legal documents"" as well as the full texts of the speeches of the counsel and the opinion of Commissioner Loring."" Bound without rear advertisements: ""some have advertisements at the back of the pamphlet while others do not"" no priority established Finkelman 113. Sabin 6505. Harvard Law Catalogue II:1030. Text fine. hardcover books
