Books

First edition of one of Wilberforce's few substantial literary works, arguably his most extensive published discussion of the slave trade. Copies were immediately circulated through the House of Lords upon publication on 31 January, shortly after the Slave Trade Abolition Act was introduced to Parliament. The Act received Royal Assent on 25 March. Although nominally addressed to Wilberforce's Yorkshire constituency, the Letter was aimed at the nation's public and parliamentarians as the struggle to abolish the slave trade reached its final stages. Wilberforce consolidates the research, evidence, and arguments that his campaign had built up over the previous two decades. For William Hague, the Letter demonstrates that "the abolitionist campaign in its final stages threw off the cloak of national self-interest, under which it had advanced so much the previous year, and resumed its frontal assault on the inhumanity of the slave trade" (p. 353). Goldsmiths' 19504; Hogg 2265; Kress B.5282; Printing and the Mind of Man 232 (b). William Hague, William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner, 2007. Octavo (212 x 130 mm). Modern brown half calf, spine ruled and decorated in gilt, black morocco label, marbled paper sides, edges sprinkled red and brown. Bound without the half-title. Contemporary ownership inscription, "Willm Henry Ho[w], Feb. 1809", in ink on the title page, slightly shaved in the binding process. Minor browning and foxing to endpapers and contents: a very good copy.

A powerful document written by William Wilberforce discussing the moral and social imperatives for abolishing the slave trade, published during the height of abolitionist debates in the early 19th century.