De la Littérature des Nègres, ou recherches sur leurs facultés intellectuelles, leurs qualités morales et leur littérature; suivi de Notices sur la vie et les ouvrages des nègres qui se sont distingués dans les Sciences, les Lettres et les Arts

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A first edition of De la Littérature des Nègres by Henri Grégoire, printed in 1808 in Paris, France, for bookseller Chez Maradan. The text contains biographical portraits of fifteen prominent Black individuals, including Francis Williams, Phillis Wheatley, Jean-Baptiste Lislet Geoffroy, Ignatius Sancho, Thomas Fuller, Jacobus Capitein, Ottobah Cugoan, Benjamin Bannaker, and Olaudah Equiano. Three of Wheatley's poems are printed in English with French translations on pages 260 through 272. Grégoire critiques Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, his false sympathy towards Africans, and his grudging acknowledgement of the talent and potential of individuals of African descent. Foxing is visible on interior pages. Spine has abrasions on the head and tail. Covers are bent inwards towards the text block. 287 numbered pages.

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