THE HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE ABOLITION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, BY THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. IN TWO VOLUMES. FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE LONDON EDITION

Clarkson, Thomas

Published by Published by James P. Parke. Brown & Merritt, Printers, Philadelphia, 1808

About this Item

Volume I: Pages 455, [1 errata], folding plate after page 210; full-page plate of slave shackles after page 300; "Am I Not a Man and a Brother" seal illustrated on page 359. Front inner hinge archivally reinforced. Front free endpaper lacking. Volume II: Pages 468, folding plate of slave ship [expertly repaired closed tear, no loss] after page 90. The two volumes in original pale grey boards, rebacked in period paper. Spine labels. Light to moderate foxing. Signatures of early owners on title pages and elsewhere. Housed in an attractive grey and quarter red morocco box, with gilt-lettered spine title. Very Good. Volume 1's folded plate depicts the "history of the different classes of the forerunners and coadjutors," as described in the text; The Beinecke Library describes this odd plate as "Untitled map of abolition of the slave trade." [See, online Yale Center for British Art, Slavery and Portraiture in 18th-Century Atlantic Britain]. Volume 2's folded plate is the iconic illustration of the cross-section of a loaded slave ship with 454 slaves crammed into its hold. Clarkson dedicates his monumental, influential work to Lord Grenville and other named Cabinet Ministers, "To whose wise and virtuous administration belongs the unparalleled and eternal glory of the annihilation (as far as their power extended) of one of the greatest sources of crimes and sufferings ever recorded in the annals of mankind." From his early manhood, Clarkson "devoted his life to abolitionism" [Encyclopedia Britannica on line]. A close ally of William Wilberforce and Granville Sharp, they formed The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787. Their efforts bore fruit in 1807, when a bill for the abolition of the slave trade finally passed. He published this book the following year. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Blockson One Hundred and One, 17. LCP 2390; Sabin 13486; Shaw & Shoemaker 14700.Work 258. Kress B5319.

Seller Inventory # 40878

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE ABOLITION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, BY THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. IN TWO VOLUMES. FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE LONDON EDITION
• Publisher: Published by James P. Parke. Brown & Merritt, Printers, Philadelphia
• Publication Date: 1808
• Seller catalogs:
  • AMERICANA
  • ENGLAND
  • SLAVERY