THE SLAVE COLONIES OF GREAT BRITAIN; OR A PICTURE OF NEGRO SLAVERY DRAWN BY THE COLONISTS THEMSELVES; BEING AN ABSTRACT OF THE VARIOUS PAPERS RECENTLY LAID BEFORE PARLIAMENT ON THAT SUBJECT.
London: Printed by Ellerton and Henderson, Gough Square, for the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions; and Sold by J. Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly; and J. and A. Arch, Cornhill, 1825. iv, 164 pp. Some foxing to first and last few leaves; title and last page toned. Bound in modern dark boards with gilt-lettered title stamped on front cover. Good plus.
A second edition issued in 1826. The book reviews developments concerning slavery in each of the British West India colonies: laws for free people of color and for slaves, manumissions, proposed reforms and objections to reforms, trials of alleged rebels and insurgents, including the destruction of the Methodist chapel in Barbados and revolts and trials in Jamaica, changes in the law, punishments inflicted, manumissions, the slave trade, slave unrest.
"The reports were called for in order to learn what had been done in the way of effecting amelioration in the colonies. This work, brought out by the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions. . . showing that nothing substantial has been done" [Ragatz]. It "presents cases of extreme cruelty" [id.] to slaves in Berbice.
Authorship and editorship are attributed to Zachary Macaulay, founder and organizer of several antislavery societies and a major force in accomplishing the British Emancipation. He focused on providing a picture of Negro Slavery based on reports of "the colonists themselves."
FIRST EDITION. Ragatz 458. Sabin 82063. Not in LCP. Item #41192
Price: $1,500.00