Slave Trade . Lo! the poor Captive with distraction wild / Views his dear Partner torn from his embrace! / A diff'rent Captain buys his Wife and Child / What time can from his Soul such ills erase

First state. Mezzotint and etching, engraved by J. R. Smith. Approx. 19 x 26. This mezzotint was based on a painting by Morland exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1788 under the title, "Execrable human traffic. Or the affectionate slaves." Smith advertised it in February 1790 together with "African Hospitality" at 36 shillings the pair to subscribers and at two guineas to non-subscribers. Morland's painting was said to be the first to record a slave-trading scene on the African coast. "A party of slave-traders with their victims about to embark. On right, a man in foreground is leading a black woman, to whom a little child is clinging, towards a boat in which another black woman and white man are already seated; boy in centre pulling boat to shore by chain. On left, two slave-dealers, one with stick uplifted in threatening manner, holding a black man between them, who, with clasped hands, seems to appeal to them for mercy; boat with white man in stern and two blacks in centre immediately behind this group; ships at anchor beyond. On right, palm trees under which slave-dealer and black man in conical-shaped hat are conversing; little black boy standing by holding gun; native huts and more natives under hill in background" (Frankau). Along with the engraving of the slave ship Brookes, it provided an enduring visual image to help promote the abolitionist cause in the midst of the debate in Parliament. See Meredith Gamer, "George Morland's Slave Trade and African Hospitality: Slavery, Sentiment and the Limits of the Abolitionist Image', in 'The Slave in European Art: From Renaissance Trophy to Abolitionist Emblem, eds. Elizabeth McGrath and Jean-Michel Massing (London: Warburg Institute/ Turin: Nino Aragno, 2012), pp. 297-319. This is the first state, with additional states from 1814 and later; the mezzotint was also issued in colors. Frankau 321.1; Baily No. 316 Dawe, "Life of George Morland," page 152 Trimmed outside plate mark, vertical and horizontal creases through image, minor abrasions in image, short edge tears. Framed Mezzotint and etching, engraved by J. R. Smith. Approx. 19 x 26.…