Recollection (in The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1772)
London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1775. Second Edition. Full tree calf. Octavo.
This is the complete bound volume of The Annual Register, with Phillis Wheatley's poem appearing on page 214 of the "Poetry" section.
"Recollection" is Wheatley's vivid and memorable description of the power of memory. Her first line invokes the Greek goddess of memory, Mneme, to inspire her verses.
Publisher's note preceding Wheatley's poem reads: "Verses by a young African Negro Woman, at Boston in New England; who did not quit her own country till she was ten years old, and has not been above eight in Boston."
Wheatley had been captured in Senegal and sold to Boston merchant, John Wheatley in 1761. The Wheatley family educated her and she quickly mastered not only English but Greek and Latin as well. Phillis Wheatley was the first African American author to publish a book when her "Poems on Various Subjects..." was printed in 1773. The Wheatley family emancipated Phillis later that year.
Albeit in a second edition of the Annual Register in which it first appeared, this is an early appearance of a work by this brilliant woman.
Very good. Full leather binding with five raised bands and gilt ornamentation to spine. Spine titling stamped in blind (or gilt has eroded). Binding has minor wear at extremities and endpapers and adjacent leaves show marginal browning. Hinges remain sound. Overall, beautiful and remarkably well preserved.
Item #1690
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