Feb 21, 2008 - Sale 2137

Sale 2137 - Lot 9

Unsold
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
ASKING HELP TO INSURE A SLAVE-SHIP (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) ATTRING, L. Autograph Letter Signed to William Forsyth at Matanzas, Cuba. Single folio sheet folded to form four pages, written on two sides with docketing on a third. Excellent condition. Matancas (sic),Cuba. 21 May, 1818

Additional Details

The writer asks a friend to help him obtain insurance on his schooner the Antonio, bound for the West Coast of Africa "for a cargo of slaves . . . agreeable to an order from the King of Spain." While Great Britain had officially banned the taking of African slaves in 1807, with most countries as signatories to the ban, the trade flourished nonetheless. Spain was a significant exception, still supplying her colonies in Cuba and Puerto Rico.