first edition
1860 · New York
by [SLAVERY & ABOLITION] CHILD, Lydia Maria
New York: Published and for sale at 5 Beekman Street, 1860. First Edition. 12mo. 20th-c. binding of tan calf over paper-covered boards; marbled page edges; 95,[1]pp. About fine and complete; the pamphlet appears to have been offered without cover wrappers (in any case, not noted by Blanck).
Uncommon first edition of this late tract by the important abolitionist and feminist Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880). Child's intention with this work was to make a direct case to southern slaveholders, based not on any moral grounds but purely on business, hoping that the Caribbean example would convince southerners that abolition could be achieved without wrecking their economy. "[Child] suggested [to Samuel B. May, the publisher] ...that the title page omit any mention of the American Anti-slavery Society, giving only an address but no publisher. She even considered issuing the tract anyonymously but decided that her notoriety would probably help rather than hinder its circulation" (see Karcher, The First Woman in the Republic: a Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child. Durham, 1994; p.428ff). Blanck notes two editions in 1860 as well as a reissue in 1862; this, with verso of the final leaf unprinted, is the first. Rarely encountered in commerce. BAL 3189. (Inventory #: 63532)
Uncommon first edition of this late tract by the important abolitionist and feminist Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880). Child's intention with this work was to make a direct case to southern slaveholders, based not on any moral grounds but purely on business, hoping that the Caribbean example would convince southerners that abolition could be achieved without wrecking their economy. "[Child] suggested [to Samuel B. May, the publisher] ...that the title page omit any mention of the American Anti-slavery Society, giving only an address but no publisher. She even considered issuing the tract anyonymously but decided that her notoriety would probably help rather than hinder its circulation" (see Karcher, The First Woman in the Republic: a Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child. Durham, 1994; p.428ff). Blanck notes two editions in 1860 as well as a reissue in 1862; this, with verso of the final leaf unprinted, is the first. Rarely encountered in commerce. BAL 3189. (Inventory #: 63532)