Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #121167
Cost: $850.00

Autograph letter - Signed

Slavery

AUTOGRAPH LETTER ABOUT THE SLAVE TRADE IN HAVANA, INCLUDING THE DEATH OF A MAN FROM A SPLINTER AND THE CORRECT PRICE FOR A WOMAN TRYING TO BUY HER FREEDOM

(SLAVERY). Autograph letter signed [regarding the Havana slave trade]. Havana, 6 May 1855. Single sheet of unlined paper, measuring 8-1/4 by 10-1/2 inches; p. 1. $850.

Original 1855 autograph letter between a Cuban firm and a Massachusetts attorney about the death of an enslaved man on a Cuban plantation from a splinter and about the process of setting a price for an enslaved woman trying to buy her freedom.

This letter, evidence of the horrible business of the international Atlantic slave trade, reads: "Havana 6 May 1855. Isaac Story Esq. No. 46 Washington Street. Boston Masstts. Dear Sir, Mess. Bayley & Traub have communicated to us the death of the Mulatto Carlito, brought on by a splinter entering the hand, after all had been done to save him: and that the Negro Woman Carolina one of the best hands on the Estate about 32 years of age had presented herself to Mr. Baconnais the administrator to purchase her freedom—the laws give her that right, and in reply to Mess. Bayley and Traub's inquiring what price they should ask we stated that they and Mr. Baconnais were better able to fix it than we could for which reason we begged them to do so, without further reference to us. We will continue to communicate whatever we learn to you and we are meanwhile glad to be able to report on Mess. B & T's testimony that otherwise all was going on well at the Retin. Yours Faithfully R. M——."Santiago Bayley and Carlos Traub ran a merged business established in Matanzas, Cuba in 1841 that evidently dealt with slave-related matters.

A few spots of faint soiling and light wear to left edge. An extremely good letter with historical significance.

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