Mar 26, 2015 - Sale 2377

Sale 2377 - Lot 20

Price Realized: $ 1,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(SLAVE UPRISINGS.) STEDMAN, CAPTAIN JOHN GABRIEL. Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition Against the Revolted Natives of Surinam. Map of Surinam and 81 inserted plates, several by William Blake. Two volumes, 4to, contemporary full tree calf, re-cased at an earlier date; with black spine labels; tips rubbed; some offset and foxing to the plates. should be seen. London: J. Johnson, 1796

Additional Details

first edition of an important narrative. Captain John Gabriel Stedman's (1744-1797) account of his expedition to Surinam, today's Guiana. There he found the natives, a mixture of local tribes and slaves in open revolt against the planters---but not without good cause, as several of the more horrific plates by William Blake would suggest. One in particular, "The Flagellation of a Female Samboe Slave" depicts a woman strung up on the branch of a tree by her wrists. This engraving is often cited when discussing the abuses of slave owners. Abbey Travel, pages 637-640.