SLAVERY Rare Books and First Editions at Bauman Rare Books

return to authors search >

SLAVERY

Found 16 books(s). Showing results 1 thru 16.

sort by

“HERE BEGAN THE HORRID PRACTICE OF FORCING AFRICANS INTO SLAVERY”: WITH FAMOUS FOLDING PLATE OF THE SLAVE-SHIP BROOKES

(SLAVERY) CLARKSON, Thomas. History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition. London, 1808. Two volumes.

First edition of Clarkson's classic history of the slave trade, with the famous large folding engraving of the arrangement of slaves on decks of the slave-ship Brookes according to the "humane" Dolben Bill of 1788, a handsome copy in contemporary marbled boards. $7000.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

EXTREMELY SCARCE 1823 PARLIAMENTARY RECORDS ON SLAVERY

(SLAVERY) (PARLIAMENT). Slaves. WITH: Slave Population. (London), 1823. Two volumes.

Rare 1823 Parliamentary acts and colonial reports on slavery in the British colonies of the Caribbean, two exceptional volumes of laws and papers, printed by order of the House of Commons in February and in March 1823, providing precise documentation on the taxation, commerce and legal governance of slavery, and an implicit, sometimes chilling record of its human misery. $5500.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

“A MORAL CRUSADE”

(SLAVERY) (FRANKLIN, Benjamin). Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society. Philadelphia, 1787.

First edition, with corrected title page, of the scarce second printed constitution of the first American abolition society, with Benjamin Franklin listed as president, Benjamin Rush as secretary and Thomas Paine as its Clerk of the General Assembly, a model for subsequent abolition societies and a founding document in the struggle against slavery, in original wrappers. From the estate of William W. Scranton, the influential governor of Pennsylvania who was, like Franklin, noted for his statesmanship. $4800.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"FREEDOM IS THE NATURAL RIGHT OF ALL MEN"

(SLAVERY). Constitution of the Abolition Society. No place, early 19th century.

Rare generic template of a broadside for an abolition society constitution, from the early days of their proliferation, with the original printer's registration nicks. $3500.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"THE VAST AMOUNT OF HUMAN SUFFERING AND THE WASTE OF HUMAN LIFE"

(SLAVERY) BUXTON, Thomas Fowell. African Slave Trade and its Remedy. London, 1840.

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. $2800.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"THE EXTINCTION OF SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE WILL BE ATTAINED MOST EFFECTUALLY BY THE EMPLOYMENT OF THOSE MEANS WHICH ARE OF A MORAL, RELIGIOUS, AND PACIFIC CHARACTER"

(SLAVERY). Proceedings of the General Anti-Slavery Convention. London, 1841.

First edition, presentation copy, of the proceedings of the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention, with a presentation bookplate from the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society to Abney House, a Wesleyan training college. $2600.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"ONE OF THE MOST VIGOROUS OF THE WRITINGS TO APPEAR IN THAT CONTROVERSY"

(TEXAS) (SLAVERY) [LUNDY, Benjamin]. The War in Texas. Philadelphia, 1836.

First edition of Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lundy's spirited anti-slavery argument protesting Texas' aggression against Mexico, "showing that this contest is a crusade against Mexico set on foot and supported by slaveholders, land speculators, etc., in order to re-establish, extend and perpetuate the system of slavery and the slave trade." $2200.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"A CLASSIC IN EMANCIPATIONIST LITERATURE"

CLARKSON, T[homas], Esq. Thoughts on… Slaves in the British Colonies. London, 1823.

First edition of Clarkson's powerful work in the fight to end slavery, arguing "if you put into one scale the gold and jewels of the Planters, you are bound to put into the other the liberty of 800,000 of the African race; for every man's liberty is his own property," a fine copy. $2200.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE WAS INDISPENSABLY REQUIRED… NOT ONLY BY RELIGION AND MORALITY, BUT BY EVERY PRINCIPLE OF SOUND POLICY"

(SLAVERY) (HOUSE OF COMMONS). The Debate on a Motion for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade. London, 1792.

Second and first edition, respectively, of these two important government publications regarding Britain's late 18th-century debate over abolishing the slave trade. $2200.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"THE TRADE TO AFRICA IS CHIEFLY CARRIED ON BY THE BRITISH MERCHANTS"

(SLAVERY). Some Observations on the Assiento Trade. London, 1728.

First edition of this scarce, anonymous treatise on the abuses of the English Assiento trade in slaves to the Americas, particularly in regards to Jamaica and British colonies in North America. $1850.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

"VERY PROBABLY AN END WILL SOON BE PUT TO THE PRACTICE OF TRANSPORTING SLAVES FROM AFRICA TO THE NEW WORLD"

(SLAVERY). The Interference of the British Legislature. London, 1816.

First edition of this defense of the West Indian slave trade, arguing against emancipation. $1800.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

MANUSCRIPT GRAND JURY STATEMENT AND MANUSCRIPT JURY VERDICT FINDING "NEGROE JACK" GUILTY OF "VIOLENTLY AND FELONIOUSLY" COMMITTING THE RAPE OF "SARAH SCAGGS SPINSTER," 1792

(SLAVERY). Manuscript legal documents. Frederick County, Maryland, November/March 20, 1792.

Scarce late 18th-century manuscript documents written on behalf of a Frederick County, Maryland grand jury and jury accusing a slave, "Negro Jack," of committing the rape of "One Sarah Scaggs Spinster" based upon the testimony of the alleged victim and finding Jack guilty of that crime. $1750.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

ORNATE MANUSCRIPT AMERICAN SLAVE DOCUMENT FORMALIZING THE GIFTING OF FIVE SLAVES, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, 1850

WALKER, George. Manuscript indenture document (slave deed). Charleston, SC, February 20, 1850.

Large, ornately penned 1850 Charleston, South Carolina, manuscript slave deed formalizing the purchase (for $5.00) and gifting of five slaves, "Emma, Charles, Louisa, William and Isaac" to Charles Walker and Mary Desel as a wedding present from Mary's father, Charles Lewis Desel (a physician) and John Bickley (a planter). $1600.

add to my wishlist Currently On Reserve: Please Inquire

1831 MANUSCRIPT SLAVE DEED TRANSFERRING THE OWNERSHIP OF "HENRY, ABOUT 5 YEARS OLD" FOR THE SUM OF $1

SLAVERY . Manuscript slave deed for Henry, about 5 years old. Davidson County, Tennessee, January 16, 1831.

Scarce manuscript slave deed from 1831, in which a little boy, "Henry, about five years old," is sold to C.H. Dickson and Ann Dickinson and "their heirs & assigns" for the sum of one dollar. $1200.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

PARTIALLY MANUSCRIPT COMMISSION FOR DEPOSITION, 1848, WITH MANUSCRIPT FOUR-PAGE DEPOSITION REGARDING OWNERSHIP OF CHILD SLAVE NAMED "WALLACE" OFFERED VERBALLY AS COLLATERAL TO COVER A DEBT INCURRED IN THE CARE OF HORSES

(SLAVERY). Manuscript legal document. Memphis, Tennessee, November 23, 1848.

Original partially manuscript State of Tennessee, Shelby County, commission for deposition form, dated 1884, with completely manuscript four-page deposition, pertaining to an unpaid debt and a dispute about the ownership about a slave boy named "Wallace," verbally offered by his owner, stage service operator J.H. Perkins, as collateral to secure debt incurred with John H. Bass, who cared for Perkins' horses. $850.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

MANUSCRIPT PAY ORDER, 1783, DIRECTING THE TREASURER OF A NEW ENGLAND TOWN TO PAY THE SELECTMEN FOUR POUNDS FOR "SUNDRIES EXPENDED IN SUPPORTING A TRANSIENT NEGRO MAN AS ALLOWED IN COUNCIL"

(SLAVERY). Manuscript pay order. New Town, [Connecticut], October 21, 1783.

Late 18th-century manuscript pay order written by New Town, Connecticut clerk directing the town treasurer to pay four pounds to the town's selectmen as reimbursement for supporting a "transient negro man," quite possibly an escaped slave. $450.

add to my wishlist Add To My Shopping Bag

Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.
Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
Endpapers Extra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block. The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.
Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text.
Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
Flyleaves Additional blank leaves following or preceding the endpapers.
Folio Book composed of sheets that are folded once and printed on both sides, making two leaves and four pages. Typically above 14 inches tall. Oblong folios are produced the same way but bound at the short edge, producing a book typically more than 14 inches deep.
Fore-Edge Edge of the book furthest from the spine. Occasionally the text of a book will be put into a specialized book press and painted, often with a scene from the book or a landscape, so that the painting is invisible when the book is closed but visible when somebody bends the text and fans the pages—known as a fore-edge painting.
Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.
Frontispiece An illustration facing the title page of a book.
Gathering Single sheet of paper that has been printed and folded to form the pages required by the book’s format. A single gathering of a quarto book, then, would be a sheet folded twice, containing four leaves, eight pages of text.. Gatherings are identified by a letter, symbol or number in the lower margin of the first page (the “signature”) to make it easy for the printer to stack them in proper order for sewing.
Gilt Edges The three exposed edges of a book have been smoothed and gilded.
Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.
Illuminated Decorated by hand. Typically early printed books and especially manuscripts.
Imprint Satement of place, publisher and date of publication on a book’s title page.
Incunable From the cradle of printing, i.e., any book printed before 1501.
Issue A group of books issued by the publisher as a discrete unit. At times, issue refers to timing, such as the “first issue” being offered to the public at an earlier date than the “second issue.” At other times, it refers to specially planned different batches, such as the “trade issue” (widely available) in opposition to a “signed limited issue” (limited to a small amount of copies differing somehow from the trade issue and not widely available).
Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
Mispaginated Printer’s error in pagination, typically skipping, transposing or repeating page numbers. Not uncommon in older, larger books, it is not considered a defect, so long as all integral leaves are present.
Modern Recently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well.
Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).
Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page.
Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.
Plate Full-page illustration printed separately from but bound with the text.
Point Variation in text, illustration, design or format that allows a bibliographer to distinguish between different editions and different printings of the same edition, or between different states or issues of the same printing.
Presentation Copy Book given as a gift by its author, illustrator or publisher. Sometimes refers to a volume given by a notable donor.
Provenance History of a particular copy of a book.
Raised Bands Horizontal protruding strips found on the spine of a book.
Reback To supply a worn binding with a new spine, usually made of the same material as the rest of the binding and decorated to match. When feasible the binder may preserve the original spine and affix it to the new material, described as “rebacked with the original spine laid down.”
Recase To reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers.
Recto The front side of a leaf. The back side is known as the “verso.”
Trade Edition Printing or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription).
Uncut When the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well.
Unopened When the folds of the sheets of paper making up the text block have not been trimmed away or opened with a paper-knife. While this makes it impossible to read all of the pages, it also indicates a probability that the text block has not been altered since leaving the printer.
Vellum Binding material made from specially treated calfskin—durable, with a distinctive ivory color and smooth appearance. Can be tooled in gilt or blind. So-called Japan vellum (or Japon) is a type of thick paper that has been polished smooth and given a glossy finish to resemble vellum.
Verso The back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”)
Woodcut Illustration or textual decoration made by cutting away from the surface of a block of wood until the reverse of the image is left in relief; this is then inked and pressed to the paper to leave the image. The woodblock, or multiple blocks, can be fit into the page along with the type, allowing text and illustrations to be printed in the same print run and share the same page (not possible with engravings, which require thicker, damp paper and much more force; nor with lithographs, which require a different printing process altogether). Woodcuts preceded moveable type and are the earliest known printing technology.
Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
Wrappers Paper coverings—plain, marbled or printed—attached by stitches, staples or glue to a text block to identify it and afford it some protection (though much more fragile than a binding in plain, cloth or leather-covered boards). More typical of slim and/or inexpensive volumes such as pamphlets. “Self wrappers” are leaves, blank or printed, that are integral to the text block, conjugate with other leaves and from the same stock. “Original wrappers,” those attached at the time of issue, are scarce and extremely desirable to most collectors.