BIDDLE, NICHOLAS

An Ode to Bogle. 8 pages. 8vo, original letterpress wrappers, light wear to spine; removed from a larger volume. Philadelphia: Privately Printed, 1865 FIRST EDITION. Originally written in 1829. Robert Bogle was the premier caterer [as well as undertaker] of Philadelphia in the early part of the 19th century. Most free negroes living in American cities were artisans. As the Industrial Revolution took full sway on these shores, those same artisans found their crafts no longer serviceable. W. E. B. Du Bois noted that two courses lay open to them under these circumstances: either to open a small business or to make domestic service into a business unto itself. So it was with Bogle. Sabin 5421; Blockson Collection 6026.