Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -

Sale 2697 - Lot 262

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(LITERATURE.) Phillis Wheatley. "To Mr. and Mrs ******* on the Death of Their Infant Son," in an issue of the Boston Magazine. One (of 2) engraved plates. Pages [457]-502. 8vo, disbound and unstitched; lacking title page and Henry Laurence portrait plate, moderate wear and foxing, minor dampstaining; uncut. Boston: Greenleaf & Freeman, September 1784
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This issue includes the poem "To Mr. and Mrs on the Death of Their Infant Son, by Phillis Wheatley," which fills page 488 in its entirety. Wheatley was the first published African-American poet. By late 1784, her husband had been imprisoned for debt and her financial situation was dire. A note on page 462 adds that "should this gain the Approbation of the Publick, and sufficient encouragement be given, a Volume will be shortly Published." However, she fell ill and died that December.

The Boston Magazine was the first magazine to be published in the United States after the conclusion of the war. By September 1784, only one other magazine was in publication. In addition to the Wheatley poem, this issue includes an engraved plate by John Norman titled "The Descent of the Air Balloon," depicting Montgolfier's pioneering 1783 balloon flight in France, with a related article. This may be the first aeronautical illustration engraved in America. Other highlights are a report on the possibility of Vermont statehood (page 498), news of the British ratification of the Treaty of Paris (page 497), and a lengthy "Report of a Committee of Congress, Containing a Plan for a Military Establishment for the United States in Time of Peace" (pages 489-497). Evans 17854; Lomazow 15.

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