WHEATLEY, Phyllis (ca 1753-1784). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. London: A. Bell, 1773.

12mo. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Wheatley. (Entire title-page in supplied in facsimile, frontispiece foremargin renewed with portions in facsimile, a few other leaves remargined with some letters in facsimile). Original boards (modern rebacking, some scuffing and wear). Provenance: Inscription and various annotations (some dated 1792); Windsor Library Association (bookplate).

FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST BOOK OF POETRY WRITTEN BY A BLACK AMERICAN. Wheatley, who was likely born in West Africa, was enslaved as a child and was sold to John and Susannah Wheatley of Boston in 1761. John Wheatley encouraged her intellect and hired her a tutor. On a trip to England in 1773, she was taken into the circle of the Countess of Huntington and arrangements were made for the publication of her Poems. Brawley 31; Sabin 10316; Wegelin 432.

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African Americana

WHEATLEY, Phyllis (ca 1753-1784). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. London: A. Bell, 1773.

African Americana

WHEATLEY, Phyllis (ca 1753-1784). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. London: A. Bell, 1773.

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