1828. · Birmingham
by [Jamaica]
Birmingham: Printed by B. Hudson, 1828.. 24pp. Half title. Original printed self-wrappers, stitched as issued. Some wear and tanning to half title and p.24, paper fault in upper right corner of titlepage (no text affected). Very good. Second edition, following the first of 1825, giving accounts of the "wanton, cold-blooded" hunting of runaway slaves in Jamaica. The "shooting excursion" in the title refers to the 1824 "attack made by a party of islanders upon a long-established camp of runaway slaves who had lived peaceably for years in a forest settlement" (Ragatz). The pamphlet includes summaries of the attack from the MONTEGO BAY GAZETTE, CORNWALL COURIER, and CORNWALL GAZETTE, as well as an illustration of the camp showing the route of the attackers. The author explains that "the barbarous excursions which have been described, did not owe their origin to any insurrection of the Negroes, in consequence of any discussions in the British Parliament, nor, in consequence of any stir made by the British people in their behalf. They were, as the account itself testifies, wanton, cold-blooded excursions, on the part of the white inhabitants of Trelawny, to root up a runaway settlement, which had subsisted eleven years, without offense or molestation to the neighbourhood" (p.6). This edition includes a dismissive note on page 23 about the recently passed Consolidated Slave Act (1826), which was meant to "restrain arbitrary punishments" of slaves, among other abuses. The author of the text is unknown, signed only at the end in print as "Alfred." This second edition is rather scarce, with only five copies listed in OCLC, at Yale, University of Florida, Newberry Library, John Carter Brown Library, and the University of Manchester. RAGATZ, p.409. OCLC 9563313. SABIN 35556 (1825 ed).
(Inventory #: WRCAM55095)