Historic Newspapers: Slavery & Abolition

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  • Runaway slave ads...
    Item #684609
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, Maryland, June 21, 1796  The front page features 20 illustrated ship ads, as well as an ad: "FOR SALE, A likely , healthy NEGRO WENCH..." with details.
    Page 3 has an ad for: "Negro Tom" describing: "A Black Man, about 5 feet 6 inches high...ran off from Fell's Point on... Read full description  
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  • Washington signs an Act of Congress concerning the Whiskey Rebellion...
    Item #684611
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, Maryland, June 23, 1796  

    * Rare 18th century publication

    Page 2 has an: "ACT Making an Appropriation to Satisfy Certain demands attending the late Insurrection...", which provided money: "...to the discharge of certain incidental... Read full description  
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    $112.00
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  • Slave reward ads, 20 illustrated ship advertisements...
    Item #706704
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, July 5, 1796  Curiously, five different type fonts are used to print the title in the masthead. The front page features 20 illustrated ship ads, making it very displayable.
    The back page has an ad beginning: "For Sale, A Healthy Negro Girl...", plus no fewer than 3 reward ads... Read full description  

    Item from our most recent catalog - #365 - released for April, 2026

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    $46.00
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  • A single sheet "Supplement" issue...
    Item #694552
    SUPPLEMENT TO CLAYPOOLE'S AMERICAN DAILY ADVERTISER, Philadelphia, Oct. 15, 1796  Occasionally newspapers would publish a "Supplement" to an issue to either provide space for advertisements or to report news that would not fit within the 4 page issue. This is one.
    The front page begins with a: "Twenty-Dollars Reward" for... Read full description  
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    $35.00
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  • Sale of 100 slaves, with details...
    Item #700773
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, Nov. 24, 1796  The front page includes 13 illustrated ship ads. The back page has an interesting ad headed: "To Be Sold....Upwards of 100 Negroes..." with various details. Also an ad: "For Sale, on a Credit, Two strong, healthy NEGRO MEN..." with details.
    Four pages, great... Read full description  

    Item from our most recent catalog - #365 - released for April, 2026

    (Added to the April, 2026 Catalog (#365) after its initial release - only available on-line.)

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    $43.00
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  • On the retirement of George Washington from public office...
    Item #700777
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, Maryland, Dec. 16, 1796  

    * President George Washington
    * Retirement from public service


    The front page includes 18 illustrated ship advertisements.
    Page 3 has a letter signed in type: George Washington, in response to another letter about his retirement from public... Read full description  
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    $95.00
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  • 18th century Baltimore...slave advertisements...
    Item #688555
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, Dec. 21, 1796 

    * Rare 18th century American title
    * (5) slaves related advertisements


    The full ftpg. is taken up with ads including 5 illustrated ship ads & 4 slave related ads. The back page has another slave ad. (see) Also a land for sale for the Washington D.C. area.
    Four... Read full description  
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    $45.00
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  • Signed by Governor Sam Adams...
    Item #669093
    THOMAS'S MASSACHUSETTS SPY, OR THE WORCESTER GAZETTE, March 22, 1797  Beginning on the front page & ending on pg. 4 signed: Samuel Adams is "An Act ...Respecting Highways" in the state of Mass. Page 2 has: "Slave Trade"
    Four pages, good condition.
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    $43.00
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  • Napoleon...   A ladies' academy..
    Item #696655
    THE HERALD; A GAZETTE FOR THE COUNTRY, April 1, 1797  The front page begins with a lengthy letter signed in type: Buonaparte, written to his "Executive Directory". Inside includes ads for a "Ladies Academy" and a runway Negro woman headed: "Twenty Dollars Reward".
    Four pages, very nice condition.
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    $38.00
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  • Corbett's short-lived newspaper...
    Item #699029
    PORCUPINE'S GAZETTE, Philadelphia, April 26, 1797  The front page includes a: "Two Dollars Reward" ad for a runaway indented servant girl, with details. Pages 2 and 3 have reports on the Napoleonic War including a letter signed in type: Buonaparte, which includes: "I shall send you immediately the ten standards which we have... Read full description  
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    $76.00
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  • One of the less common 18th century titles...
    Item #705984
    PORCUPINE'S GAZETTE, Philadelphia, June 14, 1797  

    * Rare 18th century American publication

    The entire front page is taken up with ads including a a detailed ad for a runaway slave ad under: "Fifty Dollars Reward".
    Another can be found on the back page. 
    Four pages, never-trimmed margins, nice condition.

    AI... Read full description  
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    $54.00
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  • William Cobbett's famous newspaper...
    Item #688310
    PORCUPINE'S GAZETTE, Philadelphia, June 27, 1797 

    * Rare 18th century American publication
    * 3 runaway slave advertisements


    This was William Cobbett's important and controversial--but short-lived--daily newspaper.
    Cobbett was a prolific & controversial publisher who often wrote under the pen-name of "Peter Porcupine."... Read full description  
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    $62.00
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  • Eighteenth century Baltimore...
    Item #694377
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, Maryland, July 5, 1797  

    * Rare 18th century American publication

    Curious that the title uses 5 different fonts. Page 3 has a report: "'Termination of the British Fleet Mutiny".
    The back page is filled with ads including at least 3 reward ads for runaways, as well as: "To... Read full description  
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    $54.00
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  • Honoring Horatio Nelson...   Wilberforce on slavery...
    Item #629229
    SUPPLEMENT FOR THE YEAR 1797 for Gentleman's Magazine, England. Within this supplement issue, which was published at the end of the year, is a report beginning: "Mr. Wilberforce said that it were only wasting the time of the House to go to any length into a subject which had already undergone such full & frequent... Read full description  
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    $29.00
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  • Engraving of a porcupine in the masthead...
    Item #704633
    PORCUPINE'S GAZETTE, Philadelphia, March 29, 1798  

    * Rare 18th century American publication

    The masthead features an engraving of a porcupine. The entire front page is taken up with ads including one for a runaway slave headed: "Ten Dollars Reward" Two more appear on the back page.
    Four pages, never-trimmed margins, a... Read full description  
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    $67.00
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  • 18th century Baltimore... Slave advertisement...
    Item #688389
    FEDERAL GAZETTE & BALTIMORE DAILY ADVERTISER, July 6, 1798

    * Rare 18th century American title
    * (5) runaway slave advertisements


    The ftpg. is taken up with ads including 12 illustrated ship ads and 2 slave related ads. (see) Pages 2,3 & 4 have another slavery related ad.
    News of the day with several other advertisements. Four... Read full description  
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    $40.00
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  • Recruitment ad for joining the U.S. military...
    Item #705974
    THOMAS'S MASSACHUSETTS SPY OR WORCESTER GAZETTE, June 5, 1799  

    * From the year of George Washington's death

    Page 2 has a letter from Lord Nelson to his wife. Page 3 also has a very nice recruitment ad for the military headed: "ATTENTION ! " "To all who properly estimate the Independence of America, love... Read full description  
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    $46.00
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  • Latest news from 1799...
    Item #686126
    THE SPECTATOR, New York, June 5, 1799  Most of the front page is taken up with the continuation of: "An Act to Regulate the Collection of Duties on Imports & Tonnage" which carries over to pg. 2 & is continued in a future issue. It is headed with an engraving of a heraldic eagle.
    Page 2 has a short bit headed: "Trial of Fries"... Read full description  
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    $38.00
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  • Includes a document signed by Buonaparte...
    Item #686129
    THE SPECTATOR, New York, June 8, 1799  The entire front page & a bit of page 2 are taken up with a portion of the very lengthy Act of Congress on regulating duties on imports, headed with an engraving of a heraldic eagle.
    Page 2 has a "Five Dollars Reward" ad for a runaway negro man, as well as reports on the Napoleonic... Read full description  
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  • Turn of the century....
    Item #596554
    WEEKLY MUSEUM, New York, July 12, 1800  Various news of the day. Page 2 has a poem titled: "The Slave". Four pages, some staining, generally good.
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    $23.00
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  •  Early notice on Gabriel's Rebellion...  Creation of the Indiana Territory...
    Item #702760
    THE CONNECTICUT COURANT, Hartford, Sept. 15, 1800

    * re. the creation of the state of Indiana
    * Gabriel Prosser's slave insurrection


     Page 3 has a brief & early report on Gabriel's Rebellion,
    It notes: "An insurrection was discovered on the 30th alt. among the negroes in the... Read full description  
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    $255.00
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  • Poem titled: "Slave Trade"...   Unpulished Washington letter...
    Item #697109
    WEEKLY MUSEUM, New York, Oct. 18, 1800  Somewhat of a literary title but other content as well including a poem titled: "Slave Trade". Also: "Horrid Murder" "Radnor Forest"; an interesting unpublished letter by George Washington dated Nov. 26, 1775; "Female Constancy" and more.
    Four... Read full description  
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    $35.00
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  • Slave insurrection, Yellow Fever epidemic, treaty with France...
    Item #651505
    GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, London, November, 1800  Near the back is news headed: "America" which reports on the Yellow Fever epidemic noting: "America, too, is at once a prey to a malignant fever & a most extensive & alarming insurrection among the Negroes, incited, as is said, by French... Read full description  
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    $28.00
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  • Slave population...
    Item #208596
    MERCURY AND NEW ENGLAND PALLADIUM, Boston, Oct. 13, 1801  Brief item on pg. 2 says: "The slaves form about one sixth part of the population of the United States; and three fifths, the number represented in Congress, about one tenth." Bkpg. ad headed: Spermaceti and Whale Oil with details.
    Ftpg. has some ink stains in the left margin, some foxing.
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    $25.00
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  • Slave insurrection planned in Virginia...
    Item #693158
    NEW-ENGLAND PALLADIUM, Boston, May 18, 1802  Page 2 has an item concerning clockmaker Jacob Alrichs. Also a report of a slave insurrection near Lynchburg, noting: "...that a conspiracy among the negroes there...some of the ringleaders...are in custody...The plan of those misguided wretches was to have...massacred their masters &... Read full description  
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    $40.00
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  • Early Charleston: slave ads...
    Item #691308
    CHARLESTON COURIER, South Carolina, March 12, 1803  A volume I issue of this famous title from the South.
    The back page has ads headed: "Prime Negroes for Sale" with much detail, and another: "For Sale, 40 Valuable Negro Slaves".
    Four pages, nice condition.

    Item from our most recent catalog - #365 - released for April, 2026

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    $42.00
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  • Thomas Jefferson, a 'negro revolt', a fatal due...
    Item #708214
    THE CONNECTICUT COURANT, Hartford, Jan. 29, 1806  The front page has a letter signed in type: Th. Jefferson, which introduces to the Senate a lengthy letter from General Trudeau of St. Domingo and complains about carrying on commerce with the island.
    Page 3 has: "Negro Revolt" concerning the 7,000 slaves who revolted at a... Read full description  

    Item from last month's catalog - #364 - released for March, 2026.

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    $28.00
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  • Zeb Pike explores the Mississippi...   Comm. Truxton...
    Item #645608
     COLUMBIAN CENTINEL, Boston, June 25, 1806 

    * Zeb Pike Explores The Mississippi River

    Page 2 references: "...a letter from St. Louis...says Lieut. Pike returned a few since for reconnoitering the head waters of the Mississippi--All I can understand of his tour is, that the Mississippi heads out of a large lake, and... Read full description  
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    $43.00
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  • Amazing Grace...  Abolishing slavery (British) discusion...
    Item #648711
    THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, London, England, January, 1807  Within this 90+ page issue is a report headed: "Proceedings In the First Session of the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland, 1806", which begins: "Lord Grenville brought in a Bill for abolishing the Slave Trade,... Read full description  
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    $55.00
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  • Early and uncommon title from Baltimore...
    Item #676877
    AMERICAN & COMMERCIAL DAILY ADVERTISER, Baltimore, July 16, 1811  

    * Uncommon publication
    * Slavery advertisements


    A typical newspaper of the day with various news and a wealth of advertisements.
    Among the back page ads are: "NEGROES - Wanted immediately about fifteen young Negro Slaves, Male and Female, from ten to twenty... Read full description  
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    $32.00
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  • Very early boxing...
    Item #611422
    NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, Washington, July 30, 1811

    * Tom "The Moor" Molineaux
    * African-American bare-knuckle boxer


    Page 3 has a one paragraph report about a boxing match near London between Molineux, the famous black man from New York, and a young Englishman named Rimmer. The report states in part: "...In the course of 15 minutes the black pounded... Read full description  
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    $37.00
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  • Early and uncommon title from Baltimore...
    Item #676868
    AMERICAN & COMMERCIAL DAILY ADVERTISER, Baltimore, Sept. 28, 1811

    * Uncommon publication
    * 3 slavery notices


    A typical newspaper of the day with various news and a wealth of advertisements.
    Among the ads are: "Runaway Negro" with details, and another: "NEGROES - Wanted immediately about fifteen young Negro Slaves, Male... Read full description  
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    $40.00
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  • Caracas & Carthagena independence... rare mention of The Inquisition...
    Item #694925
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Feb. 1, 1812 

    *  Carthagena's independence
    *  Rare mention of The Inquisition
    *  Report from Caracas re: their independence


    Page 7 has under the heading "South America" mention of the manifesto of Carthagena, stating in part that in... Read full description  
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    $42.00
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  • First of this title we have encountered...
    Item #687407
    ALEXANDRIA DAILY GAZETTE COMMERCIAL & POLITICAL, Virginia, July 13, 1812  

    * Very rare 19th century American publication

    A very scarce title, in fact we believe this is the first we have encountered it. There are no issues of this date recorded in Brigham outside of the American Antiquarian Society.
    The masthead features an... Read full description  
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    $225.00
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  • General William Hull is sentenced to death...
    Item #703090
    THE WAR, New York, May 17, 1814  

    * General William Hull death sentence
    * Cowardice and neglect of duty
    * Pardoned by James Madison


    The front page includes: "Convention For the Exchange of Prisoners" 'Proclamation of Blockade" which takes most of a column & is signed: Alexander Cochrane; "Trial,... Read full description  
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    $63.00
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  • Just after the War of 1812...
    Item #700676
    THE WEEKLY MESSENGER, Boston, June 2, 1815  The front page has most of a column taken up with: "The Slave Trade". Nearly half of the front page is tan up with: "Gen. Wilkinson's 
    Trial". 
    In 1811 Wilkinson was accused of spying for the Spanish, becoming the highest ranking official in U.S. history ever to face an... Read full description  
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    $27.00
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  • Madison's review of the year 1815...   Chart notes values of slaves...
    Item #650012
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Dec. 9, 1815 

    * President James Madison
    * State of the Union Address


    The notable content is the full text of the President's annual state-of-the-union address signed in type: James Madison. He reviews all that happened in 1815 with much on the details of the end of the... Read full description  
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    $36.00
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  • Governor Simon Snyder... Runaway ad...
    Item #547685
    NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, from Washington D.C., dated December 21, 1815.

    * Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder

    On pg. 2 under “Pennsylvania” is the “Governor’s Message”, signed in type: Simon Snyder. The back page has a reward ad for a runaway “Negro Man named David”.

    Other news of the day includes:... Read full description  
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    $25.00
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  • Apalachicola, Florida... Slave or free?
    Item #705243
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Sept.  14, 1816  Starting on the front page and continuing within is a great article describing a banquet held in Paris to celebrate American Independence, which illustrates the great relationship held between both nations.
    Another article within describes the the mass migration of Negroes from... Read full description  
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    $40.00
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  • Appalachicola, Florida... Slave or free?
    Item #673060
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Sept.  14, 1816  Starting on the front page and continuing within is a great article describing  a banquet held in Paris to celebrate American Independence, which illustrates the great relationship held between both nations.
    Another article within describes the mass migration of Negroes from... Read full description  
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    $32.00
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  • Slave advertisements from the nation's capital...
    Item #683736
    NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, Washington D.C., May 1, 1817  This issue has not one but two runaway slave advertisements with one on page 3 and the other on the back page.
    News of the day and other ads. Four pages, some foxing, good condition.
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    $48.00
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  • Memoirs of John Carter, John Duckworth, & F.A.S. & Count de Choiseul-Gouffier...
    Item #647109
    THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, London, October, 1817
    Whereas the issue includes reports from the Americas, including one from Haiti mentioning the building of a college with recommendations by William Wilberforce, perhaps the most interesting material are the multi-page memoirs of sculpture/architect John Carter,... Read full description  
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    $24.00
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  • Landmark event in women's history: former slave woman petitions as an heir to her brother's estate...
    Item #705927
    COLUMBIAN CENTINEL, Boston, Oct. 22, 1817  

    * Former Woman slave Pamela Sparhawk
    * Newton, Massachusetts petition for estate


    In 1818 a woman named Pamela Sparhawk petitioned the Mass. General Court to be recognized as heir to her brother’s estate.
    What makes this... Read full description  
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    $198.00
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  • Slave ships arrive at Galveston...   A Proclamation by the President...
    Item #657925
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Aug. 8, 1818  Page 6 has: "General Jackson's Campaign" which lists the number of: "...The Indians inhabiting the country lying between Georgia & the Mississippi river..." totaling 11,000 warriors. It notes: "This force, if embodied and... Read full description  
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    $34.00
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  • Indians are staking their claim...
    Item #694556
    THE UNION subtitled: "United States' Gazette and True American for the Country", Philadelphia, April 17, 1819  This was the semi-weekly country edition of the "Union" which was a daily.
    Page 2 includes: "Claims of the North American Indians" and: "Curious Roguery. A page 3 report begins: "The slave... Read full description  
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    $35.00
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  • Much on Indian treaties...
    Item #599850
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, April 24, 1819  Among the articles are: "How to Tame an Elephant!" "Indian Treaties Ratified at the Late Session of Congress" which takes two pages; "Mexican Coinage"; a brief item: "Negro Stealing" reads: "Sentence of death has been pronounced on a fellow in North... Read full description  
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    $26.00
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  • Niles' eight essays on the 'Mitigation of Slavery'...
    Item #691745
    NILES WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore  

    * The "Mitigation of Slavery" - 8 issues
    * Serialized essay by Hezekiah Niles'
    * His plan to abolish slavery in America

    A set of 8 issues which contain all eight essays by publisher Hezekiah Niles titled the: "Mitigation of Slavery" in which he puts forth five... Read full description  
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    $685.00
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  • Account of an 1812-1813 expedition from Louisiana through Texas...
    Item #709685
    SUPPLEMENT TO VOLUME THE SIXTEENTH OF THE WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, (1819).
    Page 42 begins: "Province of Texas" which includes a "...brief history of an expedition in 1812 and 1813, from Louisiana into the Texas..." and "...The expedition carried on against the government of Spain in the Provine of Texas,... Read full description  

    Item from last month's catalog - #364 - released for March, 2026.

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    $48.00
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  • On slavery in Missouri...
    Item #699385
    THE NATIONAL REGISTER, Washington, Dec. 4, 1819  

    * Slavery in Missouri question
    * Expansion of United States 
    * Prelude to Statehood - free or slave state ?


    An uncommon title that existed from March 2, 1816 thru Dec. 7, 1820. As the photos show the format was very much like the more popular 'Niles Weekly Register' which began in 1811, but... Read full description  
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    $34.00
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  • Inquiring on the illegal smuggling of slaves into the United States...
    Item #683279
    NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Jan. 22, 1820  Inside has nearly two pages taken up- with: "The Slave Question" as it relates to the on-going discussion of the situation with Missouri joining the Union.
    Also within: "Civilization of the Indians" which includes two letters signed in... Read full description  
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    $38.00
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