Lot 145
Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade. By James Montgomery, James Grahame, and E. Benger. London: Printed for R. Bowyer by T. Bensley, 1809. 12½ x 10 in., 141 pp. 1st Edition, original gray and brown covers; label on front cover darkened with age. With 7 plates (lacking 5 others). Foxing, margins frayed and soiled. Portraits and biographies of William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and Thomas Clarkson, all important figures in the fight to abolish slavery, are placed before the poems, which are titled: "The West Indies, A Poem. In Four Parts"; "Africa Delivered; or The Slave Trade Abolished"; and "A Poem, Occasioned by the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in 1806." Published after Great Britain enacted the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. Poetry was a popular means of appealing to the heart and the conscience. It was especially appreciated by the increasingly-literate middle classes and by upper class women.
Estimated Value $100 - 200.
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| Realized $121 |
