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CLARKSON, THOMAS.
An Essay
on the Slavery and Commerce of the
Human Species, Particularly the
African.
256 pages. 8vo, original contem-
porary full tree calf; spine with five plain
gilt bands; tips rubbed; front hinge cracked
but firm.
Dublin, 1786
[600/900]
FIRST DUBLIN EDITION OF THOMAS
CLARKSON
’
S MASTERPIECE
,
for which he
won the award for best essay at Cambridge.
Clarkson was the leading and loudest anti-
slavery voice in England. It was Clarkson
(1760-1846) who sought out the indisputable
evidence of the barbaric treatment of African
slaves. And it was Clarkson who brought it all to
William Wilberforce and others in Parliament,
so that that evidence could be brought before the
people of England. Cited in Printing and the
Mind of Man (Pressler, 1983).
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Manuscript slave sale document.
Small 4to sheet, written on one side and dock-
eted on the reverse; sealing wax seal, signatures of concerned parties: Elizur Tallcott,
Prudence Tallcott, and John Willard.
New London, 11 October, 1774
[600/800]
JOHN HILLARD OF STONINGTON SELLS THE TALLCOTTS OF NEW LONDON A FOUR YEAR OLD
BOY NAMED PHILLIP
.
On the eve of the American Revolution, Connecticut had the largest number
of slaves in all of New England. In New London County alone —-the site of the present transac-
tion—-there were some 2000 slaves. Before the war Connecticut had some of the harshest laws
pertaining to blacks. However, when the war broke out, many slaves were offered their freedom in
exchange for their service.
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