Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

37 c   (SLAVERY ANDABOLITION.) [Bourne, George.] Picture of Slavery in the United States of America. 11 plates. 227, [1] pages. 12mo, contemporary cloth, moderate wear; moder- ate foxing; a few early inscriptions including decorative owner’s signature on front free endpaper. Middletown, CT: Edwin Hunt, 1834 [400/600] first edition of a disturbingly graphic illustration and indictment of slavery. It includes some material from Bourne’s 1816 pamphlet “The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable,” but adds much more material, as well as powerful engravings such as “Selling Females by the Pound,” and “Ladies Whipping Girls.” “Tanning a Boy” shows a white boy who was allegedly captured and enslaved, and was given baths in a tanning solution to darken his skin. Bourne (1780-1845) stood out even among abolitionists of his day by describing enslaved people as citizens, and with his call for “immediate emancipation without compensation.”This was apparently a step too far for one early owner of this book. On page 136, Bourne wrote “The period has arrived when slavery must be entirely abolished.” It is here amended in manuscript:“The period is fast approaching. . .”Afro-Americana, 1414; Sabin 6921. 38 c   (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Group of 7 abolitionist almanacs. 12mo, stitched without wrappers; various conditions. Vp, 1837-51 [500/750] The American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1838, 1839, and 1840, with numerous illustrations and articles * The Liberty Almanac for 1845, 1848, 1849, and 1852, with cover illustrations and numerous articles. Drake,Almanacs 4139, 7618, 7699, 8190, 8589, 8721. HELPING “OUR BRETHRENWHOTAKE REFUGE ATTHE NORTH FOR SAFETY AND PROTECTION” 39 c   (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Ruggles, David. Letter urging the establishment of a Committee of Vigilance in Syracuse. Letter Signed as “David Ruggles” to Ezra Styles [Stiles], with postscript signed “DR”; the body of the letter was written in an unknown secretarial hand. 2 pages, 12 3 / 4 x 7 3 / 4 inches, with address panel, docketing and inked Skaneateles postmark on integral blank; separations at folds, some stabilized with tape, minor wear at edges and one fold with minimal loss of text, more wear and uneven toning to address leaf. New York, 1 June 1838 [6,000/9,000] David Ruggles (1810-1849) was one of the leading abolitionists of the 1830s and 1840s. Born into a free African-American family in Connecticut, he came to New York City as a young man. In 1835, he helped form the New York Committee of Vigilance as a way to aid fugitive slaves and protect the city’s free black community. The committee helped make New York a major hub in the Underground Railroad. Frederick Douglass was one of the fugitives personally assisted by Ruggles, just a few months after this letter was written. 37