Sale 2503 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 28, 2019

4 THE FIRST AMERICAN ENGRAVING OF THE SLAVE SHIP BROOKS 4 c   (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Plan of an African Ship’s Lower Deck, with Negroes in the Proportion of Not Quite One to a Ton. Engraving, 5 1 / 2 x 16 3 / 4 inches; disbound on right edge, foxing, light vertical folds. Not examined out of modern frame. [Philadelphia], May 1789 [4,000/6,000] The famous deck plan of the slave ship Brooks was one of the most powerful images of the early anti-slavery movement. It first appeared in England in March 1789, as part of a 4-page pamphlet by W. Elford. It was re-engraved for its firstAmerican appearance in the May 1789 issue of theAmerican Museum,a popular magazine from Philadelphia.The image is reversed from the English printing, with the front of the ship facing left. 5 c   (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Sala, F.; lithographer. [The Slave Trade—Slaves on the West Coast of Africa.] Hand-colored lithograph, 11 3 / 4 x 14 3 / 4 inches; laid down on modern paper. Berlin, Germany, circa 1860s [600/900] A harrowing scene at a slave market on the African coast.At the center, three white traders negotiate with four armed Africans for a piece of merchandise—a prostrate black man. To the left, other slaves are prepared for shipment; a woman is being branded on her shoulder.This lithograph is an interpretation of an 1835 painting by François-Auguste Biard which was popular in abolitionist circles.A larger 1844 engraving of the painting by Wagstaff is occasionally seen on the market, but we have not traced any other examples of the present lithograph.