Search Results: Slavery from ARTEM

Obscure early lyrical poem about a Black American raging against slavery, promising "the revenge of a smoldering black revolution"
Doigny du Ponceau (1750-1830).
Discours d'un negre a un Européen, piece qui a concouru pour le prix de l'Académie Françoise, en 1775.
Paris, Demonville, 1775.
8°. 15, [1 blank] pp. Collates: A8. With woodcut head- and tailpieces.
Contemporary half calf with marbled sides, red title-shield, red edges.
[bound with 11 elogies].
First and only edition of a rare lyrical poem against slavery and racism by the little known author Doigny du Ponceau. It is set up as a fake contestant for the prize of the French Academy in 1775.This text falls within the theme of a speech of an enslaved maroon who, confronted with execution, accuses the Europeans of their oppression and threatens them with revenge. This is found in French lyrical poems closely related to each other, ranging from 1759 to 1790, begun in 1759 by l'abbé Guillaume Antoine Lemonnier, with his Discours d'un nègre… Read More

Rage against missions: a landmark anti-colonialist treatise
Haarlem, Joh. Enschedé en Zoonen & J. van Walré, 1807.
4°. [4], X, [2], 27, [1 blank], 296 pp. With two engraved medallions on the first title-page.
First edition of a landmark Dutch anti-colonialist and anti-missionary treatise. This controversial and heavily criticized work marks a shift in thinking about the Western influence around the world. It is a rare work and here in excellent. Only a few copies are recorded in libraries outside The Netherlands.
At the end of November 1803, the Teyler's Religious Society in Haarlem organized a competition. A treatise was to be prepared on the question, "What service have missionaries done to the propagation of true Christianity in the past two centuries, and what fruit is there been to expected from the present active missionary societies in this regard?". On November 30, 1804, Haafner's manuscript of 195 pages arrived. This turned out to be the only entry, making it inevitable to crown him the… Read More

"In favour of people of colour" Pivotal point in the fight for racial equality and to abolish slavery
Henri Grégoire (1750-1831).
Mémoire en faveur des gens de couleur ou sang-mêlés de St.-Domingue, & des autres Isles françoises de l'Amérique, adressé à l'Assemblée Nationale.
Paris, Belin, 1789.
8°. 52 pp. With a woodcut device on title and a woodcut headpiece. Collates: A-C8, D2.
Modern marbled boards with gold-tooled title on red Morocco on spine.
The first work against slavery by one of the architects of the first abolition. This publication is the first printing of a controversial speech that Henri Grégoire gave at the National Assembly of France, which was of the utmost importance for the instigation of the road to abolition. Copies are now considered of extreme rarity.Grégoire was a most prominent figure of the French Revolution. In 1789 he was the initiator and author of the First Article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. From him came the crucial sentence "Men are born… Read More

Large VOC watercolour view of Porto Praia, Cape Verde
Johann Christian Friderici [= Frederici] (Heldburg 1766 - Cape Town 1804).
Prospect van het eyland, en de rheede van St. Iago. Geteekend van Johann Christian Friderici / Verbeelding van de inwoonders op St Iago.
Porto Praia, Cape Verde, 1783.
Watercolour with ruled black ink border on laid paper, watermarked Pro Patria with Maid of Dort. 29,5 x 120,5 cm.
The largest recorded early modern panoramic view of Cape Verde, by "the best VOC map maker in South Africa" (Koeman). This is his earliest known work.Santiago's Porto Praia is the main harbour of Cape Verde. It served as an important transportation hub of enslaved African people to the Americas and for the restocking of ships bound for the Cape with salt and fresh foods. These two functions of the island are depicted in the cartouche in the top right. It shows an African family and examples of livestock: a turkey and a goat. The man wears clothes that are also seen in depictions of plantation… Read More