125
●
(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) [PHILLIPS, WENDELL.]
Review of
Lysander Spooner on the Unconstitutionality of Slavery.
95 pages. 8vo, original
printed salmon wrappers, sewn.
A VIRTUALLY PRISTINE COPY
.
B
OSTON
:A
NDREWS
& P
RENTISS
, 1847
[300/400]
FIRST EDITION
of Wendell Phillips’ careful dissection and destruction of Lysander Spooner’s
essay “The Unconstitutionality of Slavery.” In his complex and convoluted legal argument,
Spooner, a devout abolitionist, maintained that the Constitution of the United States inherently
forbade slavery.William Lloyd Garrison had argued the opposite, stating that nothing short of
an amendment was needed to change it. Phillips exposes Spooner’s argument as an elaborate
piece of sophistry, more distracting than useful.AfroAmericana, 8173.
126
●
(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION—PUERTO RICO.) GIBBON, CHARLES C.
VICE CONSUL.
Paper Respecting the Abolition of Slavery and the Condition of
the Libertos in Puerto Rico.
4 pages, folio. Original printed self-wrappers, sewn; old
library stamp and some light foxing.
London: Harrison and Sons, 1875
[400/600]
Gibbon in general gives favorable marks to the Spanish overseers of the Libertos, the slaves who
had worked through the patronato system to emancipation in 1873. But of course everything is
relative. He states that the average laborer was receiving from 50 to 62 cents a day for his work,
from sun-up to sundown. For his labor he received one meal a day, and his housing was free.
No flogging was allowed, that is of course if anyone was watching, but over all very little physi-
cal abuse was reported.This system was rather strange, involving contracts with their old owners
which could easily be broken and often were.This report does provide an unbiased view of con-
ditions among the “Libertos.”
127
●
(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION—RACIST HUMOR.) CHILDS, JOHN.
Practical Amalgamation. Five stipple engravings by Edward Williams Clay, the
author of the series “Life in Philadelphia:” “The Wedding Party” * “Musical
Soiree” * “The Wedding” * “The Amalgamation Waltz” * Johnny Q. Introducing
the Haytian Ambassador to the Ladies of Lynn, Mass, respectfully inscribed to
Miss Caroline Augusta Chase, and the 500 Ladies of Lynn who Wish to Marry
Black Husbands.”
each approximately 12 x 16 inches, image size 9
1
⁄
2
x 13
3
⁄
4
inches; paper
evenly toned; some edge-wear to the last engraving with some short, closed tears. Should
be seen.
NewYork: John Childs, 1839
[4,000/6,000]
A GROUP OF RARE RACIST ENGRAVINGS BY EDWARD WILLIAMS CLAY
(1799-1857).
Clay, who was the creator of the “Life in Philadelphia” series in the late 1820s rose to the
occasion when white paranoia seized the imagination of racists following Emancipation in the
West Indies in 1834.As improbable as this was, there was a fear that once freed, blacks would
somehow begin the seduction of white ladies everywhere. The engraving titled “Johnny Q.
Introducing the Haytien (sic) Ambassador to the Ladies of Lynn, Mass. Has several meanings.
“Johnny Q.” was of course John Quincy Adams, an outspoken defender of blacks. [In 1841 he
would become one half of the defense team of the Amistad Captives.] The historic event
ridiculed in this print occurred on February 1, 1839 when Caroline Augustus Chase, head of
the Lynn Female Anti-Slavery Society, and 785 women of Lynn Mass. petitioned the
Massachusetts State House of Representatives for the right to “marry, intermarry, or associate
with any Negro, Indian, Hottentot, or any other being in human shape they may choose to
marry.”We could only locate copies of three of these five engravings: “The Wedding,” “The
Musical Soiree,” and “Johnny Q.”
[
LOT
127
SEE ILLUSTRATION OVERLEAF
]
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