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- Title
- ["Household-stuff"; Negroland]
- Description
- The engraving offers a partial view of the interior and exterior of a house in Negroland. It accompanies the following paragraph in Ogilby's text: "The best of their Household-stuff is commonly one or two wooden Chests, bought of the Whites, wherein they Lock all they possess; so that little can be seen in their Houses. They have some Kalabasses, which they call Akosso, made of the Straw of Mille, wherein they commonly carry their Wares and other Goods to sell. Their Arms, such as Shields, Assagays, or Launces, hang on the Wall for Ornament. The remaining part of their Goods consists in a Mat to sleep on, two or three stumps of wood for Stools, a Pot or two to boyl in, two or three Kalabasses to drink Palm-Wine out of, and a great Kettle to wash themselves in." (p. 454) Many of the objects to which Ogibly refers can be seen in the engraving. For example, at the far left, an African washes himself in a "great Kettle," while the man at the far right raises a kalabasse in his hand. In the center of the scene, the standing figure holds his sleeping mat, and several straw baskets (Akosso) are scattered on the ground. In accordance with Ogilby's description, arms, shields, and the like decorate the walls of the house., Illustration in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid: the Land of Negroes, Guinee, and Aethiopia, and Abyssines, with all the Adjacent Islands, either in the Mediterranean, Atlantick, Southern, or Oriental Sea, Belonging Thereunto (London: Printed by Tho. Johnson, for the author, and are to be had at his house in White Fryers, M.DC.LXX [1670]), p. 454., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1670]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Wing O163 14.F p 454 A, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2957
- Title
- [Ehem, or little boats, and jenge-jenge, or African bridges, in Negroland]
- Description
- Engraving shows two ehem (or canoes), which were commonly used in Negroland. On the left, two men build an ehem, while a third wades through the water with a bundle of wood on his back. To the right, five men paddle a finished ehem. As Ogilby wrote, "Along the whole Coast the Inhabitants use light and nimble Boats, or Sloops; by them call'd, Ehem; by the Portuguese, Almades; and by the English and others, Canoos: with which they go some Leagues to Sea, and row up the Rivers from one place to another: They are made of one entire piece of Wood, or the body of a Tree cut long-ways with Cutting-Knives; then made hollow on the sides, and narrow above, with a flat bottom, and without any covering over head; the Ends before and behind narrow, and close together as a Hand-bow, and almost in the same fashion; the Head somewhat lower, the Sides a finger thick, and the Bottom two: And after the hollowing, they burn the Wood with Straw, to prevent Worms, and cleaving by the Sun. At each End the Canoo hath a Bowe like a Galley, a foot long, and a Knob a hand thick, whereby the Blacks carry them in and out of the Water upon their shoulders; for they suffer them not to lie soaking in the water, but set them upon Props to dry; by which means they both preserve them from rotting, and make them more pliable and swift in the using. Behind they have a Rudder like an Oar, being a long Stick with a round leaf at it: The common ones, wherewith they go out a Fishing, are generally sixteen foot long, five broad, and three foot high; some so large, that fifty or sixty men may stand in them with their Arms; which sort are made about Cape de tres Puntas, because there grows mighty large Trees, being seventeen or eighteen fathom in thickness. They lie not high with their Sides above water, but oftentimes he that steers the Helm, sits with his body most in the water: The small ones will hold onely one man in the Breadth, but seven or eight in the Length; which are rowed with Oars made of hard wood, in shape of a Spade, with an extraordinary dexterity Galley-fashion; and make such swift way in Still water, that they seem to flye, but in Rough-water they will not go forward so fast: The smaller sort, by reason of their narrowness, overset very easily which the Negroe's with great facility turn and leap into again." (p. 454-55), Illustration in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an accurate description of the regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid: the Land of Negroes, Guinee, and Aethiopia, and Abyssines, with all the adjacent islands, either in the Mediterranean, Atlantick, Southern, or Oriental Sea, Belonging Thereunto (London: Printed by Tho. Johnson, for the author, and are to be had at his house in White Fryers, M.DC.LXX [1670]), p. 454 (bottom)., A closely related version of the engraving (mirror image) was published in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde (Leyden: 1729?) under the title Ehem, ou canots, petits bateaux, et Jenge-Jenge ou ponts des Africains., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1670]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Wing O163 14.F p 454 B, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2958
- Title
- Dracht en wapening der Hottentots = The Hottentots clothing and their dress
- Description
- Set in a lush landscape near the Cape of Good Hope, the illustration features a group of Khoikoin, also known (pejoratively) as the Hottentots. Engraving accompanies a passage in which Ogilby offers a detailed description of their clothing and weapons. "Their Clothing is very sordid, and vile, most of the Men wearing onely a Sheeps Pelt, or Badgers Skin, in manner of a Mantle about their Shoulders, with the hairy side commonly within, and ty'd under their Chin. Such a Mantle consists of three Pieces, neatly sew'd together with Sinews of Beasts in stead of Threed. When they go abroad, or upon a Journey, they throw another Sheeps-skin, with the Wool on the out-side, over the undermost. Upon their Heads they wear a Cap of Lamb-skin, with the Woolly side inward, and a Button on the top. Their shoes are made of a Rhincerot's Skin, and consists of a whole flat Piece, before and behind of a like heighth, with a Cross of two Leather-bands fasten'd to their Feet. Before their Privacies hangs a little piece of a wild Wood-Cat, or ring-streaked Tyger, or Jack-alls Skin, ty'd behind with two Thongs. The Habit of the Women differs little from the former, being a Sheep-skin Mantle on the upper part of their Bodies, with the Wool inwards; but somewhat longer than the Men; also another Skin hanging behind to cover their back-parts, and a square Piece before their Privacies. On their Heads they wear a high Cap of a Sheeps, or Badgers Skin, bound to their Heads with a broad Fillet: In all the rest following the Mens Garb. . . . Many of them wear as an Ornament, the Guts of Beasts, fresh and stinking, drawn two or three times one through another, about their Necks, and the like about their Legs . . . . When they go abroad they have usually an Ostrich Feather, or a Staff, with a wild Cats Tail ty'd to it, in one Hand, in stead of a Handkerchief to wipe their Eyes and Noses, and beat away the Dust, Sand, and Flies, and in the other Hand a sleight Javelin. The Women never go abroad without a Leather Sack at their backs, having at each end a Tuft or Taffel, fill'd with one trifle or another. Their Weapons, or Arms, are Bowes and Arrows, and small Darts, three, four, or five Foot long, having at one end a broad sharp Iron fixed, which they handle and throw very dexterously." (p. 590-91), Double-page plate in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid: the Land of Negroes, Guinee, and Aethiopia, and Abyssines, with all the Adjacent Islands, either in the Mediterranean, Atlantick, Southern, or Oriental Sea, Belonging Thereunto (London: Printed by Tho. Johnson, for the author, and are to be had at his house in White Fryers, M.DC.LXX [1670]), p. 590., A seemingly identical copy of this engraving appeared in Pieter van der Aa's La Galerie agreable du monde (Leyden: 1729?). The Leyden version was signed by van der Aa., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1670]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Wing O163 14.F p 590, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2962
- Title
- The Africans of the slave bark "Wildfire"
- Description
- Engraving shows the manner in which hundreds of African slaves were crowded on the deck of the "Wildfire," an American vessel captured off the northern coast of Cuba in April 1860. According to the accompanying text, the ship had left the Congo River thirty-six days before her capture, and had roughly five hundred Africans on board. The capture of the "Wildfire" was led by Lieutenant Craven of the United States steamer Mohawk. His experience was recounted in Harper's Weekly as follows: "Soon after the bark was anchored we repaired on boad, and on passing over the side saw, on the deck of the vessel, about four hundred and fifty native Africans, in a state of entire nudity, in a sitting or squatting posture, the most of them having their knees elevated so as to from a resting place for their head and arms. They sat very close together, mostly on either side of the vessel, forward and aft, leaving a narrow open space along the line of the centre for the crew of the vessel to pass to and fro. About fifty of them were full-grown young men, and about four hundred were boys aged from ten to sixteen years. It is said by persons acquainted with the slave-trade and who saw them, that they were generally in a very good condition of health and flesh, as compared with other similar cargoes, owing to the fact that they had not been so much crowded together on board as is common in slave voyages, and had been better fed than usual." (p. 344), Illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. IV, no. 179 (June 2, 1860), p. 344., Caption underneath the image reads: "The slave deck of the bark 'Wildfire,' brought into Key West on April 30, 1860. -- [From a Daguerrotype.]", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
- Date
- [June 1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v IV n 179 June 2 1860 p 344, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2651
- Title
- Scenes on a cotton plantation
- Description
- According to the accompanying commentary (p. 69), these scenes show the Buena Vista plantation in Clarke County, Alabama. As the text suggests, "The four sketches in the centre [i.e., sowing, ploughing, hoeing, and picking] show the principal operations of the cotton culture; and around figure other scenes appropriate to a cotton plantation." Moving clockwise from the upper right, the outer scenes are titled: the cotton gin, the planter and his overseer, prayer meeting, Saturday evening dance, plantation graveyard, the call to labor, and the cotton press. The text describes these scenes as follows: "The cotton-gin; the picturesque cotton-press, to whose long lever the mules are harnessed to create the power which compresses the ginned staple into bales; the morning call, performed upon a cow-horn; the owner and his overseer, figure here; as well as the weekly distribution of rations; the dance which closes the week's labor, and the plantation burying-ground. Here the defunct negroes are buried, a rail-fence being raised above the graves to keep off marauding hogs, calves, etc.", Double-page illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. XI, no. 527 (February 2, 1867), p. 72., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [February 1867]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v XI n 527 February 2 1867 p 72, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2879
- Title
- Oeconomie rustique, culture et arsonnage du coton
- Description
- Engraving shows a cotton plantation in the West Indies. The plantation is situated near the coast, and three ships (presumably trading vessels) are visible in the background. In the right foreground, a slave picks cotton from a plant and places it in a basket. Behind him, another slave carefully cleans the picked cotton. At the far left, a female slave operates an early cotton gin, and two men pack large sacks of finished cotton. Two full sacks of cotton occupy the left foreground; one bears the label "7 No. 120 / P.R.M.", Upper portion of an engraving published in the first volume of Denis Diderot's Encyclopedie, ou, Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Metiers (A Paris: Chez Briasson, rue Saint Jacques, à la Science; chez David, rue & vis-à-vis la Grille des Mathurins; chez Le Breton, imprimeur ordinaire du Roy, rue de la Harpe; chez Durand, rue du Roin, vis-à-vis la petite Porte des Mathurins, 1762), n.p., Prevost's engraving reappeared as a lithograph in the Report on the Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co. for E. Barksdale, State Printer, 1854), plate VIII, p. 140., Key to the illustration is printed at the beginning of Diderot's text (p. 9) It reads as follows: "Fig. I. Une habitation des Isles de l'Amérique où l'on cultive le coton. No. 1, cotonier dans toute sa grandeur, arbuste portant le coton. 2, negre qui cueille le coton. 3, negre qui épulche le coton. 4, négresse qui passe le coton au moulin, pour en separer la graine. 5, negre qui emballe le coton en le foulant des piés, & se servant d'une pince de fer pour le même effet. 6, autre negre qui de tems en tems mouille la balle extérieurement en jettant de l'eau avec les mains pour faire resserrer la toile qui hape mieux le coton & l'empêche de gonsler & de remonter vers l'orifice de la balle. 7, balles de coton prêtes à être livrées à l'achteur. 8, petits bâtimens caboteurs qui viennent charger du coton sur la côte. 9, partie d'une plantation de cotoniers. 10, case à coton, & engard sous lequel se rangent les négresses qui passent le coton au moulin.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Creator
- Prevost, engraver
- Date
- [1762]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Is Dide Log 1998.F n.p., https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2845
- Title
- Slave market at Rio de Janeiro
- Description
- Image shows Val Longo, the slave-market of Rio, of which Callcott wrote the following: "Almost every house in this very long street is a depôt for slaves. On passing by the doors this evening, I saw in most of them long benches placed near the walls, on which rows of young creatures were sitting, their heads shaved, their bodies emaciated, and the marks of recent itch upon their skins. In some places the poor creatures were lying on mats, evidently too sick to sit up. At one house the half-doors were shut, and a group of boys and girls, apparently not above fifteen years old, and some much under, were leaning over hatches, and gazing into the street with wondering faces." (p. 227) Following Callcott's description, Edward Finden's frontispiece shows two slave-traders selling children on the street. One of the men holds a boy's arm and head in an obviously rough manner; the other counts on his figures, as if calculating a price or negotiating a deal with the man standing in front of the group. To the right, another potential buyer inspects a sickly woman., Frontispiece from Lady Maria Callcott's Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, and Residence there, during Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823 (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row; and J. Murray, Albemarle-Street, 1824)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Images from the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Finden, Edward Francis, 1791-1857, engraver
- Date
- [1824]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1824 Callc 1889.Q frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2726
- Title
- Gate and slave market at Pernambuco
- Description
- The image shows the gate and slave market in Pernambuco, Brazil, of which Callcott offered the following description: "It was thinly stocked, owing to the circumstances of the town; which cause most of the owners of new slaves to keep them closely shut up in the depôts. Yet about fifty young creatures, boys and girls, with all the appearance of disease and famine consequent upon scanty food and long confinement in unwholesome places, were sitting and lying about among the fithiest animals in the streets." (p. 105) Later, she wrote: "Scores of these poor creatures are seen at different corners of the streets, in all the listlessness of despair -- and if an infant attempts to crawl from among them, in search of infantile amusement, a look of pity is all the sympathy he excites." Accordingly, in the lower lefthand corner of the scene, a toddler crawls toward the sidewalk, reaching out to a free market-woman., Illustration from Lady Maria Callcott's Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, and Residence there, during Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823 (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row; and J. Murray, Albemarle-Street, 1824), p. 106., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Images from the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Finden, Edward Francis, 1791-1857, engraver
- Date
- April 5,1824
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1824 Callc 1889.Q p 106, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2727
- Title
- Solomon Northup in his plantation suit
- Description
- Portrait of Solomon Northup, a free citizen of New York, who was kidnapped in Washington City in 1841 and sold into slavery. Northup is shown in a suit that he wore as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation., Frontispiece for Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River, in Louisiana (Auburn: Derby and Miller; Buffalo: Derby, Orton and Mulligan; London: Sampson Low, Son & Company, 1853)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [1853]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1853 Nor 54079.D frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2791
- Title
- African slave trade
- Description
- Illustration is set on the eastern coast of Africa, most likely in Sierra Leone. In the center, a slave-trader inspects a slave for purchase. To the left of the pair, another European slave-trader (presumably the seller) sits on a crate, smoking a cigar as he observes the inspection process. His book, the quill, and the ink-well suggest that he is prepared to record the day's transactions. To the right, another European trader converses with three African merchants, possibly members of the Mandigo tribe. The subject of their discussion may be the sale of goods in the Africans' trunk. To the far right, an overseer with a raised whip marches behind a row of bound slaves who are headed toward a ship., Plate in William Blake's The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Ancient and Modern (Columbus, Ohio: Published and sold exclusively by subscription J. & H. Miller, 1858), p. 112., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Images of the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Felch-Riches, engraver
- Date
- [1858]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1858 Blake 70419.O p 112, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2802
- Title
- The slaves of Martinique
- Description
- Engraving accompanies Whittier's poem "Slaves of Martinique." It shows a slave couple enjoying a brief moment of rest in the shade. She is described as "Dark, but comely, like the maiden in the ancient Jewish song." He is described as " . . . the strong one and the many, with the vassal's garb and hue, / Holding still his spirit's birthright, to his higher nature true.", Engraving in John Whittier's Poems (Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey & Co., 1849), p. 372., The following lines appear underneath the image: "Beams of noon like burning lances, through the tree-tops flash and glisten. / As she stands before her lover, with raised face to look and listen.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Creator
- Glover, De Lay, 1823-1863, engraver
- Date
- [1849]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1849 Whi 12099.O p 372, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2779
- Title
- A Carib of Morne Ronde, St. Vincent
- Description
- Portrait image of Mary and her child, two Caribs whom Wentworth met in Morne Ronde on St. Vincent. According to Wentworth, Mary's features "were more of the African character, than of the aboriginal Indians, who were remarkable for the symmetry of their forms, and long straight glossy hair." "Her proportions, too," he wrote, "were singularly out of proportion, as if -- excepting her head and feet, she had been formed of the half limbs of a muscular giantess." (p. 337), Plate in Trelawney Wentworth's West India Sketch Book (London: Printed for Whittaker & Co., Ave Maria Lane, 1834), vol. II, p. 336., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- December 1833
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Wentw 5894.D vol 2 p 336, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2740
- Title
- Religious dancing of the Blacks, termed "shouting"
- Description
- Illustration accompanies Chapter XXXIII, "The Religion of the Blacks, with Anecdotes Illustrating the Same." It is set in a Baptist church, and shows a type of dance called "shouting." According to Stearns, shouting usually took place just before a congregation broke up, when "the spirit [was] upon them." He included a lengthy description of shouting, which reads as follows: "A ring of singers is formed in an open space in the room, and they, without holding on to each others' hands, walk slowly around and around in a circle, the back of the foremost one coming close to the front side of the succeeding brother or sister. They then utter a kind of melodious chant, which gradually increases in strength, and in noise, until it fairly shakes the house, and it can be heard for a long distance. . . . The dancers usually bend their bodies into an angle of about forty-five degrees, and thus bent, march around, accompanying their steps, every second or so, with a quick, jerking motion, or jump, which I can compare to nothing else than the brisk jumping of a frog, . . . The performers also accompany the jerking of their bodies with a corresponding clapping of their hands, and motion of their arms. . . . Occasionally, one of the most zealous of the sisters, throws herself up so as to nearly touch the ceiling over their heads, and then falls down helplessly into the eager arms of some stout brother, who springs forward with alacrity to receive her." (p. 371-72), Plate in Charles Stearns's The Black Man of the South, and the Rebels: or, the Characteristics of the Former, and the Recent Outrages of the Latter (New York: For sale by American News Co., 1872), p. 370., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Daily Life.
- Creator
- Bricher & Conant, engraver
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Stearns 19952.D p 370, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2820
- Title
- Slave barracoons -- burial-ground
- Description
- Illustration depicts an episode that Du Chaillu witnessed during his stay in Cape Lopez (in the modern country of Gabon). As he wrote, "During my stay in the village, as I was one day out shooting birds in a grove not far from my house, I saw a procession of slaves coming from one of the barracoons toward the farther end of my grove. As the came nearer, I saw that two gangs of six slaves each, all chained about the neck, were carrying a burden between them, which I knew presently to be the corpse of another slave. They bore it to the edge of the grove, about three hundred yards from my house, and, throwing it down there on the bare ground, they returned to their prison, accompanied by the overseer, who, with his whip, had marched behind them." (p. 115), Plate in Paul Du Chaillu's Stories of the Gorilla Country: Narrated for Young People (New York: Harper & Brothers, publishers, Franklin Square, 1868), p. 108., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [1868]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1868 Du Chail 17468.D p 108, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2819
- Title
- Branding a female slave
- Description
- Set on the coast of Haiti, the image shows a slave-trader branding a female slave on the shoulder. The unclothed slave kneels on the sand with her hands chained behind her back. Other slaves await their turn, covering their eyes or looking away. In the lower right-hand corner, a second slave-trader sits on a barrel with a rifle resting on his knee. A slave-ship is visible in the background., Plate in John W. Cromwell's The Negro in American History: Men and Women Eminent in the Evolution of the American of African Descent (Washington, D.C.: The American Negro Academy, 1914), p. 2., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
- Date
- [1914]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1914 Cromw 78796.O p 2, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2671
- Title
- [Parting scene; Old Kentucky Home]
- Description
- This parting scene illustrates a verse from Foster's song. Standing on the front porch of the old Kentucky home, a black woman cries into a handkerchief as she watches a black man walking away. He is followed by another man on a horse., Plate in Stephen Collins Foster's My Old Kentucky Home (Boston: Ticknor and Company, 211 Tremont Street, 1888), n.p., The following verse is printed on the opposite page: "The time has come when the darkeys have to part, -- / Then my old Kentucky Home, good-night!", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Daily Life.
- Creator
- Kilburn & Cross
- Date
- [1888]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1888 Foster 70524.O n.p., https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2836
- Title
- "The auctioneer's young man"
- Description
- This portrait is included in Chapter X, "A Visit to Houston," where it accompanies the section "Types from Negro-Life." The engraving depicts the auctioneer's "young man," a black man carrying a bell and a flag that reads "AUCTION SALE." Describing him and other Houston "types", King wrote: "The street life is interesting; the negro on his dray, racing good-humoredly with his fellows; the ragged urchin with his saucy face and his bundle of magnolia-blossoms; and the auctioneer's "young man," with his mammoth bell and brazen voice, are all interesting types, which, as the reader will observe, the genial and careful artist has faithfully reproduced." (p. 116), Illustration in Edward King's The great South: a record of journeys in Louisiana, Texas, the Indian territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland (Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, 1875), p. 116., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Daily Life.
- Creator
- King, engraver
- Date
- [1875]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1875 King 3379.Q p 116, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2827
- Title
- La traite des noirs
- Description
- Image is set below the decks of a slave-ship during the middle passage. Most of the slaves wear chains and shackles on their wrists. Some try to sleep on the floor; others simply wait. In the center of the scene, a mother holds her infant child. The father buries his face in the mother's hair, and rests his hand on the shoulder of his older daughter., Engraving in Albert Laporte's Récits du vieux marins (Paris: Librairie Théodore Lefèvre et cie 2, rue des Poitevins, 1883?), p. 238., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Trichon, engraver
- Date
- [1883?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1883 Lap 7206.Q (Lewis) p 238, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2833
- Title
- Revolte sur un bâtiment négrier
- Description
- Image depicts a revolt aboard a slave-ship. Having broken free of their shackles and chains, the slaves use them to attack the ship's crew. The crew members fight back with daggers and hatchets., Engraving in Albert Laporte's Récits du vieux marins (Paris: Librairie Théodore Lefèvre et cie 2, rue des Poitevins, 1883?), p. 267., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
- Date
- [1883?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1883 Lap 7206.Q (Lewis) p 267, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2834
- Title
- Scene in the hold of the "Blood-Stained Gloria." (Middle Passage)
- Description
- As the title suggests, the engraving shows the hold of the Gloria, a Brazilian slave-ship upon which the author travelled. In Chapter XV of his Revelations, Drake described the conditions on board: "our slaves," he wrote, "were crammed in hold, cabin, and peak, and packed like herrings, on the shelves, around our vessel's sides; and what was worse, gratings were kept down half the time." (p. 88-89) Continuing to describe the "horrors of this dreadful passage," he added, "The sick and dying were chained together. I saw pregnant women give birth to babes, whilst chained to corpses, which our drunken overseers had not removed. The blacks were literally jammed between decks, as if in a coffin; and a coffin that dreadful hold became, to nearly one-half of our cargo, before we reached Bahia." (p. 89) In the engraving, Ruiz, the ship's captain, has entered the hold with one of his mates. In addition to a lantern, the captain carries a large sword, while his mate carries a rifle. A cat-o'-ninetails can be seen on the floor., Fold-out plate in Richard Drake's Revelations of a Slave Smuggler: Being the Autobiography of Capt. Rich'd Drake, an African Trader for Fifty-Years from 1807 to 1857; during which Period He Was Concerned in the Transportation of Half a Million Blacks from African Coast to America (New York: Robert M. De Witt, publisher, [c1860]), p. 28., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Andrew & Filmer, engraver
- Date
- [c1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1860 Dra 72735.O p 28, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2806
- Title
- Slave market scene on the Kambia River, coast of Africa
- Description
- In the center of this busy, crowded scene, a European slave-trader examines the teeth of a male slave who is lying flat on the ground. Another European trader straddles the slave while negotiating with three African merchants. To the right, a well-dressed European merchant observes the inspection process. The open book near his elbow is most likely a ledger in which he will record his purchases. To the left of center, a European slave-trader brands a female slave while others wait their turn. With his back turned toward the viewer, an overseer in the left foreground watches the branding of the slaves. A large hatchet hangs from his belt, and he holds a metal instrument commonly used to restrain and punish slaves. In the left background, an African overseer whips a bound slave. A slave-ship at sea appears in the distant background., Fold-out frontispiece for Richard Drake's Revelations of a Slave Smuggler: Being the Autobiography of Capt. Rich'd Drake, an African Trader for Fifty-Years from 1807 to 1857; during which Period He Was Concerned in the Transportation of Half a Million Blacks from African Coast to America (New York: Robert M. De Witt, publisher, [c1860])., Wood engraving after the 1840 painting entitled "The Slave Trade" by Auguste-Francois Biard., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Andrew & Filmer, engraver
- Date
- [1840, c1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1860 Dra 72735.O frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2805
- Title
- The "West Point," the second locomotive built in the United States for actual service
- Description
- Ilustration shows the "West Point" during its first excursion trip or "trial of speed." The train was conducted by Stephen Lee Alison, who is shown with a African American assistant. Behind them, an African American man rides on the "barrier car," which consists of six bales of cotton strapped down by hoop-irons. (Such cars helped protect passengers from steam and hot water.) The next car is occupied by a "well-known colored band of Charleston" (p. 28), while the final car carries white passengers., Fold-out illustration in William H. Brown's The History of the First Locomotives in America: Together with other Valuable and Interesting Information from Original Documents, and the Testimony of Living Witnesses (Philadelphia: Barclay & Co., Publishers, No. 21 North Seventh Street, c1877), p. 28., Caption below the illustration reads: "The 'West Point' was built at the West Point Foundry Works, in New York City, for the South Carolina Railroad, forwarded to Charleston by ship Lafayette, and after several experimental trials, in February, 1831, made the first excursion trip, as above, on Saturday afternoon, March 5, 1831. (See extract from Charleston Courier.), Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [c1877]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1877 Bro S20245.O p 28, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2830
- Title
- L'Afrique
- Description
- The engraving features an African family and an elephant in the foreground of an idyllic African landscape. The father rests his hand on the elephant's out-stretched trunk; next to him,the mother holds an infant in her arms, shielding the child from the sun with an umbrella. Behind them, others hunt, fish, rest, and swim in a river., Double-page frontispiece for Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?])., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- De Wit, F., engraver
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2941
- Title
- Nouvelle carte de l'Afrique
- Description
- Physical and political map of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula, some parts of the Near East, and a portion of the Mediterranean region. A marginal illustration in the lower left-hand corner portrays African hunters and various indigenous animals, including two elephants., Fold-out map in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), p. 16, The insert in the lower left-hand corner reads: "Nouvelle carte de l'Afrique, avec ses Royaumes, Provinces, Iles et Riviéres, suirant les Relations les plus recentes Voyageurs donnée au Public par Pierre Vander AA, Marchand Libraire À Leide.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F p 16, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2952
- Title
- Nigritie, ou le pays des Negres en Afrique, avec tous ses royaumes, bayes, rivieres et ports de mer, suivant les meilleurs relations de ceux qui ont ete sur les lieux, et nouvellement mise au jour
- Description
- Physical and political map of the Western coast of Central Africa. A marginal illustration in the lower left-hand corner features African kings and hunters, as well as various indigenous animals, including two elephants and a lion. It also shows a few Europeans trading with African merchants. In the background, several figures bathe in an idyllic landscape., Folded map in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 31 has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F 31, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2942
- Title
- De stadt Benin = Benin, ville de la Guinée, en Afrique
- Description
- Bird's-eye view of the African city of Benin in Guinea. According to the key, which is printed in both French and Dutch, A denotes the queen's residence. B represents the wall surrounding the royal grounds, and C marks the entrance. The structures marked D are diverse palace buildings. The procession denoted by the letter F (should be E) suggests the "solemn depature of the king." The figure marked E (should be F) represents "his royalty on a horse." G denotes musicians playing for the king; H corresponds with "fools and dwarfs;" and the figures marked I tend to the king's tigers., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 38 has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (38), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2945
- Title
- De Stadt van Lovango = La ville de Lovango, en Afrique
- Description
- Bird's-eye view of the city of Lovango in Central Africa. According to the key, which is printed in both French and Dutch, A denotes the king's palace; B represents another court residence; C is the watch-tower; D is the wine cellar; E is the king's dining room; and F is a space for receiving the public. G marks the king's garden, while H denotes the ladies' garden. In the left foreground, Africans worship two divinities, which are marked I and K. A group of worshipers has congregated around I. Wearing feathered head-dresses, the worshipers dance and wave small flags. Kneeling in front of the divinity marked K, a solitary figure offers prayers. Behind him, four men smoke long pipes. L is the road on which criminals were dragged away., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 47 has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (47), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2947
- Title
- Lovango
- Description
- Two residents of Lovango are shown on a hill in front of the city. A woman stands to the left; she wears flowing garments and carries a basket and a staff. A man is shown at the right; he wears a loincloth and a quiver, and holds a shield and a large club. The city is visible below them., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 47a has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Meyer, Aldert, b. ca. 1664, engraver
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (47a), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2948
- Title
- Congo
- Description
- Two residents of Congo are shown on a river-bank. A man stands to the left; he wears a plumed head-dress and warrior's garb, and holds a shield and a paddle. A woman crouches at the right. She is shown from the rear, and carries two children on her back. A river is visible behind them, as is a village., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 49a has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Meyer, Aldert, b. ca. 1664, engraver
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (49a), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2949
- Title
- Bansa oste de Stadt Salvador. Hoost-stadt van het Rijk Congo. = Bansa ou S. Salvador. Capitale de Congo
- Description
- View of the city of Banza, or San Salvador, with the River Lelunda. According to the key, A represents the king's palace. The figures denoted by the letter B (lower right, on the river's edge) are slaves who collect water to supply to the city. The structures marked C are churches, and D is a citadel. E is a spring from which slaves collect fresh water., Folded illustration in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 50 has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (50), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2950
- Title
- Dracht en wapening der Hottentots = Les armes et habits des Hottentots, aupres le Cap de Bonne Esperance
- Description
- Set in a lush landscape near the Cape of Good Hope, the illustration features a group of Khoikoin, also known (somewhat pejoratively) as the Hottentots. As the title suggests, the engraving shows their weapons and manner of dress. Both the men and the women wear loin-cloths and shawls bordered with fur. A few wear bands around their lower legs. Some of the Khoikoin carry spears; the central figure is also shown with a bow and a quiver., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 57 has been written next to the plate., Seemingly, van der Aa copied from an unsigned engraving published in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid (London: 1670) under the title "Dracht en Wapening der Hottentots / The Hottentots Clothing and Their Arms.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (57), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2951
- Title
- [Le Cap de Bona Esperance]
- Description
- Engraving shows a black family near the Cape of Good Hope. Carrying three small children (two hang in front of her, one is strapped on her back), the mother gestures toward the father, who appears to hold a dead bird by its neck. (It could, however, be some other type of creature.) The father wears a large collar, and his skin reveals numerous cut-marks. Ships are visible on the waters in the background., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., Caption reads: C.D. Bona Esperance., In the absence of pagination, 57a has been written next to the plate., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Meyer, Aldert, b. ca. 1664, engraver
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (57a), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2940
- Title
- Persecuted virtue
- Description
- Illustration accompanies a recollection made by George, a fugitive slave, in Chapter XI, "In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind." In conversation with Mr. Wilson, George recalled how his sister was whipped by her owner for no other reason that wanting a decent Christian life. Correspondingly, the image captures the moment leading up to George's sister's whipping. Stripped to the waist, she waits on her knees as shabby looking white man ties her wrists to a post. In the center of the scene, a black overseer stands with a whip in his hand, talking with the master. Chains and shackles hang from the rear wall of the barn interior., Illustration in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (London: John Cassell, Ludgate Hill, 1852), p. 112., Caption underneath the image reads, "She was whipped, sir, for wanting to live a decent Christian life, such as your laws give no slave girl a right to live." --Page 95., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1852 Sto 72726.O p 112, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2789
- Title
- Whipping with the paddle, as witnessed by the author
- Description
- Image shows the type of event that Watson witnessed regularly while in the custody of a slave-trader named Mr. Denton. As Watson explained, "I was not sold for several weeks, thought I wished to be the first, not wishing to witness his cruelty to his slaves any longer; for if they displeased him in the least, he would order them to be stripped, and tied hand and foot together. He would then have his paddle brought, which was a board about two feet in length and one inch in thickness, having fourteen holes bored through it, about an inch in circumference. This instrument of torture he would apply, until the slave was exhausted, on parts which the purchaser would not be likely to examine." Correspondingly, in this scene, Denton beats a man who is tied to an upright pole in such a manner that he is forced to lie on his side on the ground in a fetal position. A child cries in the background; two potential purchasers approach., Illustration in Henry Watson's Narrative of Henry Watson: a Fugitive Slave (Boston: Bela Marsh, 1850), p. 11., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1850 Wat 71223.O p 11, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2781
- Title
- Modes of punishing slaves
- Description
- Illustration is included in Chapter VI, "Domestic Slavery in Madagascar." According to Ellis, he often witnessed "some of the inevitable consequences of the system [i.e., domestic slavery] that were perhaps more revolting in their moral degradation than in the physical suffering inflicted." The girl on the right, for example, represented one such case. As Ellis wrote, "I saw one young girl who had a couple of boards fixed on her shoulders, each of them rather more than two feet long, and ten inches or a foot wide, fastened together by pieces of wood nailed on the under side. A piece had been cut out of each board in the middle, so that, when fixed together, they fitted close to her neck, and the poor girl, while wearing this instrument of punishment and disgrace, was working with the rest." (p. 147-48) The boy on the left represented another such case. Ellis recalled, "On another occasion I saw a boy, apparently about fifteen years of age, with a rough, heavy, iron collar on his naked neck. It seemed to be formed by a square bar of iron of about three quarter of an inch thick being bent round his neck, and the two ends then joined together. Yet he was working with a number of other boys and men employed in carrying fire-wood to the beach for shipping.", Illustration in William Ellis's Three Visits to Madagascar during the Years 1853 -- 1854 -- 1856 (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1858), p. 148., As noted on the title page, the wood engravings are said to be after "photographs, etc.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1858]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Ellis 14699.O p 148, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2904
- Title
- The brutal whipping of Matt
- Description
- Illustration is included in Chapter XII, "Negro Matt, the Cooper -- Savage Bryson -- the Negro Overseer - An Agonizing but Unavailing Plea for Mercy -- A Slave-Whipping and a Tragedy." According to Livermore, the print shows the cooper, Matt, being whipped by a "gigantic" man as his master watches at the left. Other slaves look on in horror. Matt offense was accidentally burning his master in the blacksmith's shop. For this, Livermore explained, a "rope was roughly tied around his wrists, and thrown over a beam projecting from the roof of the shop, by which he was drawn up with jerks, until his toes barely touched the ground." The overseer, she noted, "stood by urging on the terrible flagellation, in the most brutal and fiendish manner conceivable." (p. 217), Illustration in Mary Ashton Rice Livermore's The Story of my Life, or, The Sunshine and Shadow of Seventy Years (Hartford: A.D. Worthington & Co., 1897), p. 214., Caption underneath the image reads: "The swish of a long whip flashed through the air. The lash sank with a cutting sound into Matt's quivering flesh. Shrieks of torture pierced the skies as blow after blow fell upon the body of the suffering man. I stood immovable, sick and faint, and heard and saw it all, paralyzed with horror and fear.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Creator
- Helmick, Howard, designer
- Date
- [1897]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1897 Liv 29518.O p 214, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2838
- Title
- [Sampson, a West Indian slave]
- Description
- According to St. Clair, the engraving features the slave Sampson, who was referred to as such on the basis of his enormous strength. Sampson was owned by a Dutchman whose plantation was near the Essequibo River in Guyana. After Sampson's second escape and capture, his master sentenced him to a severe flogging, and then took steps to deter future escape attempts. As St. Clair explained, Sampson "had an iron collar fastened round his throat, which had three legs sticking out from it, having, as represented in the sketch, hooks at their ends, which render it impossible for any human being to escape through the thick underwood in this country. In addition to this, his left leg was chained to an enormous heavy log of wood, which, when he walked, was thrown over his left shoulder. In this state, he was obliged daily to perform as much work as any other Negro on the estate.", Illustration in Thomas St. Clair's A Residence in the West Indies and America (London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, publisher in ordinary to His Majesty, 1834), vol. 2, p. 214., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 St. Cla 8958.O v 2 p 214, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2739
- Title
- A freeholder's court
- Description
- Engraving portrays an episode described in Hildreth's fictional narrative. A court of five Carolina freeholders, selected "at hap-hazard," falsely convicted a slave named Billy for plundering the rice-fields of a neighboring plantation, and sentenced him to death. As Hildreth wrote, "the sentence was no sooner pronounced than preparations were made for its execution. An empty barrel was brought out, and placed under a tree that stood before the door. The poor fellow was mounted upon it; the halter was put about his neck, and fastened to a limb over his head. The judges had already become so drunk as to have lost all sense of judicial decorum. One of them kicked away the barrel, and the unhappy victim of Carolina justice dropped struggling into eternity." (p. 197), Frontispiece for Richard Hildreth's Archy Moore, the White Slave; or Memoirs of a Fugitive (New York and Auburn: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Creator
- Fox, Frederick E., engraver
- Date
- [1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1855 Hildr 72210.O frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2800
- Title
- Scene in the slave pen at Washington
- Description
- Engraving portrays an episode described in Northup's narrative. After being kidnapped, Northup was held in Williams' slave pen in Washington City. There, he explained, he was beaten by James H. Burch, a well-known slave-dealer, and Radburn, his lackey. Burch is seen on the left, whipping Northup with a cat-o'-ninetails. ("The cat was a large rope of many strands -- the strands unraveled, and a knot tied at the extremity of each.") Describing the scene in his own words, Northup wrote, "As soon as these formidable whips appeared, I was seized by both of them, and roughly divested of my clothing. My feet, as has been stated, were fastened to the floor. Drawing me over the bench, face downwards, Radburn placed his heavy foot upon the fetters, between my wrists, holding them painfully to the floor. With the paddle, Burch commenced beating me." (p. 44), Illustration in Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1851, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River, in Louisiana (Auburn and Buffalo [N.Y.]: Miller, Orton & Mulligan; London: Sampson Low, Son & Company, 1854), p. 44., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Creator
- Orr, Nathaniel, engraver
- Date
- [1854]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1854 North 70438.O p 44, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2799
- Title
- [Instruments of torture]
- Description
- Illustration shows an "instrument of torture" used on Roper during his years of slavery. Of it, he wrote, this is a machine used for packing and pressing cotton. By it, he [i.e., the slave-owner Mr. Gooch] hung me up by the hands at letter a, a horse moving around the screw e, and carrying it up and down, and pressing the block c into the box d, into which the cotton is put. At this time, he hung me up for a quarter of an hour. I was carried up ten feet from the ground, when Mr. Gooch asked me, if I was tired. He then let me rest for five minutes, then carried me round again, after which he let me down and put me into the box, and shut me down in it for about ten minutes." (p. 52), Illustration in Moses Roper's A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery (London: Darton, Harvey, and Darton, 55, Gracechurch Street; and to be had of the author, at the Anti-Slavery Office, 18, Aldermanbury, Murrays, Mare Street, Hackney; Hudson, 18, Bull Street, Birmingham, MDCCCXXXVII [1837]), p. 51., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1837]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1837 Roper 101478.D p 51, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2758
- Title
- [Punishments for deserters]
- Description
- Two scenes show methods for punishing runaway slaves. As the caption suggests, the top image shows the way in which Portuguese colonizers punished captured fugitives: here, a slave-owner whips a slave who hangs by his neck from a tree limb. A form of punishment invented in Martinique is shown at the bottom left: a standing slave is forced to wear a collar around his neck and a shackle around his right ankle. The two are connected by a short chain that forces the slave to bend his right leg backward and support all of his weight on his left leg. Lastly, the bottom right illustrates one slave's punishment for having escaped: his leg was amputated above the knee., Plate in François Froger's Relation d'un voyage fait en 1695, 1696 & 1697: aux côtes d'Afrique, détroit de Magellan, Brezil, Cayenne & isles Antilles, par une escadre des vaisseaux du roy, commandée par M. de Gennes (A Paris: Imprimée par les soins & aux frais du sieur de Fer, geographe de Monseigneur le dauphin. Dans l'isle du Palais, sur le quay de l'Horloge, à la Sphere royale: Et chez G. Saugrain dans la grande salle du Palais, à la Croix d'or., M.DC.XCVIII. [1698]), p. 150., Caption accompanying the top scene reads: "Comme les Portugais fouettent leurs Esclaves lors quils ont deserté." The caption on the bottom left reads: "Invention d'un François de la Martinique;" the one on the right reads: "Esclave qui a la Jambe coupee pour avoir deserte.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Creator
- Inselin, C., engraver
- Date
- [1698]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1698 Froge 578.D p 150, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2663
- Title
- Tread-wheel
- Description
- Under the overseer's whip, a group of Jamaican slaves power a large tread-wheel that is presumably used in sugar manufacturing. In the foreground, two slaves have collapsed from heat and exhaustion; they are tended to by others. To the left, another overseer flogs a slave while two white men look on. As Phillippo explained, the slave's labor, "under the fervent heat of a tropical sun, was indeed excessive, sufficient, during a comparatively short period of time, to expend the vigour and exhaust the spirits of the strongest and most energetic frame, inasmuch as they had to perform by manual operation those processes, which, in every other country, are performed by horses, oxen, and machinery." (p. 159-60), Illustration in James Phillippo's Jamaica: its Past and Present State (London: John Snow, Paternoster Row, MDCCCXLIII [1843]), p. 172, Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [1843]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1843 Phill 7675.D p 172, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2777
- Title
- [Methods and instruments of restraint, plate II]
- Description
- Illustration shows some types of restraints used by Mundingo (African) slave merchants when marching groups of slaves from Bambarra to Galam. Referring to Fig. I, Clarkson explained: "AA represents two separate pieces of wood, which in the Fig. 2, 3 are made fast to the necks of two Negroes by means of cords, which are composed of the roots of trees, and are in use in those countries. Many of the Negroes were accustomed to be driven before the Mundingoes, one by one, each with this instrument on his neck." As Clarkson continued, "The second manner of conducting them is described in the same plate. Fig. 4 represents an instrument, which is of wood. Within the crutches of the instrument, which are at each end of it, are placed the necks of two Negroes in Fig. 5, which are confined in it at the extremities XX by means of certain cords, which are in use in that part of the world. Thus confined, two at a time, others of the Negroes, who were annually brought from Bambarra to Galam are said to have travelled." (p. 36), Plate in Thomas Clarkson's Letters on the Slave Trade, and the State of the Natives in those Parts of Africa, which are Contiguous to St. Louis and Goree (London: Printed and sold by James Phillips, Geroge Yard, Lombard Street, 1791), p. 36., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1791]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1791 Cla 619.Q plate II p 36, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2685
- Title
- [Methods and instruments of restraint, plate III]
- Description
- Illustration shows some types of restraints used by Mundingo (African) slave merchants when marching groups of slaves from Bambarra to Galam. In the accompanying text, Clarkson explained, "In Fig. 1, B represents a large log of wood, X a crutch at one end of it, and A a twisted cord to which it is fastened at the other. This log is made fast to a Negro's neck in Fig. 2. It is reported to be so heavy and unmanageable, that it is extremely difficult for the person who wears it to walk, much less to escape or run away. In travelling it is said to be necessary to lift up the log, that is thus fastened to the neck of each, and to place the crutch of it on the shoulder of every preceding slave. Budensome as this instrument may appear to be, it is rendered more light and portable by these means. In this way, then many of the Negro slaves from Bambarra to Galam have been made to travel as described in Fig. 3 of the same plate. When it has been necessary to halt, the crutch has been taken from the shoulders of each, and the person, who has worn it, has remained then as in Fig. 2, as unable to walk or manage himself as before, and has become almost as secure, as if he had been chained to the spot in which he had been made to halt. When it has been thought necessary to proceed, the log has again been put on the neck of every preceding slave." (p. 36-37), Plate in Thomas Clarkson's Letters on the Slave Trade, and the State of the Natives in those Parts of Africa, which are Contiguous to St. Louis and Goree (London: Printed and sold by James Phillips, Geroge Yard, Lombard Street, 1791), p. 36., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1791]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1791 Cla 619.Q plate III p 36, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2684
- Title
- La figure des moulins a sucre
- Description
- Set on a plantation, the illustration features a sugar mill and shows the initial phases of sugar production. Mill is powered by oxen (Fig. A), who rotate a large axel that turns the rollers (Figs. C and G) into which slaves feed stalks of sugar cane (Fig. L). The juice that has been extracted from the process flows into a basin (Fig. E). Once collected, the juice is heated in vats (Fig. K). Slaves skim off impurities in the presence of planters., Double-page plate in Charles de Rochefort's Histoire naturelle et morale Iles Antilles de l'Amerique (Rotterdam: Chez Reinier Leers, M.DC.LXXXI [1681], p. 332., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [1681]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1681 Roche 214.Q p 332, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2661
- Title
- Cotton pressing in Louisiana
- Description
- Engraving shows the pressing of cotton, which, according to the unnamed author of an accompanying article, represents "one of the most interesting of the various stages of preparation of cotton for the market." After being picked and harvested, the cotton was compressed into bales similar those shown in the left foreground. The press (center) was described as being "supported by a heavy frame of timber" and "about nine feet in depth." As the author explained, the work proceeded as follows: "Into this, the light, the fleecy substance is poured, and the capstan bar being set to work, it is gradually compressed to the required size, the cords are fastened round the bale, and it leaps out ready for transportation." Commenting on the slaves' labor, the author remarked, "In our sketch, a party is busily filling the press, and two stout hands are removing the bales under the direction of the overseer. But the life and soul of the party is at the capstan, in the person of the lively darky [third from right] engaged in extravagant imitations of the overseer, and jeers at the expense of the solemn figure next to him. This mercurial 'culled passion,' a fair specimen of his light-hearted race, by his jokes and high spirits, almost doubles the motive power at the bars. Though apparently solely occupied with attempts upon the facial muscles of his fellow-servants, yet at the exact moment, he will turn a somerset, kick the shins of his next neighbors, like a playful donkey, and run round with the bars, the loudest in singing the monotonous but not unmusical chant by which the black accompany their labor." (p. 236), Illustration in Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, vol. X, no. 15 (April 12, 1856), p. 236., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Creator
- Pierce, William J., engraver
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Per B 1 5919.F v X n 15 April 12 1856 p 236, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2862
- Title
- "Virginia hoe-down"
- Description
- Aboard a steamer on the Mississippi River, a black deck-hand and a fiddler hold their own "Virginia hoe-down." The engraving accompanies T.B. Thorpe's "Remembrances of the Mississippi," and corresponds with a passage in which he describes the festive, light-hearted, and "happy" nature of "the negroes of the Mississippi." "With professional boat-men," Thorpe wrote," they are always favorites, and at night, when the 'old ark' is tied up, their acme of human felicity is a game of 'old sledge,' enlivened by a fiddle. On such ocassions the master of the instrument will touch off the 'Arkansas traveler,' and then gradually sliding into a 'Virginia hoe-down,' he will be accompanied by a genuine darkie keeping time, on the light and fantastic heel-and-toe tap." (p. 37) As the deck-hand dances and the fiddler plays, two boatmen play cards and a third looks on., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 67 (December 1855), p. 38., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [December 1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 67 December 1855 p 38, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2868
- Title
- A Negro funeral
- Description
- Engraving accompanies T. Addison Richard's narrative, "The Rice Lands of the South," which, among other topics, describes slave life on southern rice plantations. It shows a slave funeral, set in a heavily wooded grove, in which numerous mourners take part. A preacher with raised, out-streched arms leads the service; mourners kneel, pray, and weep. Engraving corresponds with the following passage: "The state of excitement and exaltation to which their [i.e, the plantation slaves'] impressionable natures are so easily wrought, especially in religious matters, is manifest in their singing even more strangely than in their preaching and praying. These performances though, are, with all their grotesqueness and absurdity, often very effective and beautiful. Not seldom has it been our pleasure to listen to impromptu music, wondrously sweet and wild and weird, which, well counterfeited on the lyric stage, would bring fame and fortune. Perhaps the most remarkable of these exhibtions are those which are wont to occur on occasions of funeral solemnities, celebrated, as they generally are, in the deep night-darkness of some dense old wood, made doubly dismal by the ghostly light of the pine torches and the phantom-like figures of the scarcely visible mourners." (p. 735), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 19, no. 114 (November 1859), p. 731., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [November 1859]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 19 n 114 November 1859 p 731, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2876
- Title
- Aunt Winnie
- Description
- As the title suggests, the engraving is a portrait of Aunt Winnie, whom Strother's described as an "aged domestic" of "much importance" on a large Virginia estate. "Aunt Winnie," he explained, "was supposed to be upward of a hundred years old, and could count among her descendants children of the fifth generation" (one of whom stands at her side). According to Crayon, Aunt Winnie's cabin, a portion of which is visible in the portrait, "was fitted up with due regard to the comfort of the aged occupant, not forgetting the ornamental, in the shape of highly-colored lithographs and white fringed curtains." (p. 309), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 13, no. 75 (August 1856), p. 310., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Strother's] "Virginia illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his cousins," which was published in book form in 1857 by Harper & Brothers of New York., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Creator
- Orr, John William, 1815-1887, engraver
- Date
- [August 1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 13 n 75 August 1856 p 310, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2872
- Title
- The cook
- Description
- As the title suggests, the engraving is a portrait of a Virginia cook, whom Crayon described as "not merely a black woman, . . . but one bearing a patent stamp by the broad seal of Nature; the type of a class whose skill is not of books or training, but a gift both rich and rare -- who flourishes her spit as Amphitrite does her trident (or her husband's, which is all the same), whose ladle is as a royal sceptre in her hands, who has grown sleek and fat on the steam of her own genius, whose children have the first dip in all gravies, the exclusive right to all livers and gizzards, not to mention breasts of fried chickens -- who brazens her mistress, boxes her scullions, and scalds the dogs . . . ." (p. 176) Shown in her kitchen, the stout cook wears an apron and a kerchief, and is surrounded by bowls, buckets, a grill, and cooking utensils., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 68 (January 1856), p. 177., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Srother's] "Virginia Illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his Cousins," which was published in book form in 1857. See David Hunter Strother, Virginia Illustrated (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [January 1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 68 January 1856 p 177, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2870