<I>Poems on Comic, Serious and Moral Subjects by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New-England</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1787
name: label: Written by
content: Phillis Wheatley Peters, American, ca. 1753 - 1784
label: Published by
content: J. French
label: Illustrated by
content: Scipio Moorhead, ca. 1750 - unknown
notes: label: Caption
content: Phillis Wheatley Peters (c. 1753 – 1784) was born in West Africa and captured by slave traders as a child, whereupon she was sold to John and Susanna Wheatley of Boston, Massachusetts. She was named after the slave ship on which she was transported to the Americas and the name of her enslavers, but her surname of Peters is that of the man she married in 1778—John Peters, a free man of color.
label: Caption
content: The story of the discovery of her talent by the Wheatley family is oft told—they taught her to read and write, and by age fourteen, she had begun to write poetry that was soon published and circulated amongst the elites of late eighteenth century America and Great Britain. Her first and only volume of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), was published in London with the assistance of wealthy abolitionists. Peters’ poetry brought her renown in abolitionist circles as proof of the humanity of those of African descent and the inhumanity of the institution of slavery.
label: Caption
content: The Wheatleys manumitted Peters in 1773 under pressure from critics who saw the hypocrisy in praising Peters’ talent while keeping her enslaved. They died within a few years of this decision, and Peters soon met and married grocer John Peters. Her life afterwards was indicative of the troubled freedom of African Americans of the period, who were emancipated but not fully integrated into the promise of American citizenship. Peters was also affected by the loss of all three of her children—the birth of the last of whom caused her premature death at age 31 In 1784. Despite being feted as a prodigy while enslaved, the emancipated Peters struggled to find the support necessary for producing a second volume of poetry and her husband’s financial struggles forced her to find work as a scullery maid—the lowest position of domestic help. Posthumous publications of Peters’ poetry in various anthologies and periodicals solidified her image as a child poet for the benefit of abolitionist activism and African American cultural pride in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the twenty-first century, the accumulation of this collection is a restoration of Peters the woman and the influence of her poetry and activism today.
label: Description
content: A second-edition copy of the book Poems on Comic, Serious, and Moral Subjects by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England 2nd edition, corrected, printed in London for J. French, bookseller, in 1787. The frontispiece is a roundel portrait of Phillis Wheatley in profile, attributed to Scipio Moorhead, seated at a desk, holding a quill to paper. The edge of the portrait runs off the page, costing the edge of the roundel and several letters along its edge. The bookplate features the heraldric acheivement of Earl Cornwallis: two stags supporting a coat of arms with goats, ravens, and droplets above the motto [PER ADUA STABILIS]. Book is in very good condition, with small area of discoloration along the top edge of the cover and slightly yellowed interior pages. 124 numbered pages.
place: label: Place printed
content: London, England, United Kingdom, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Literature
label: Topic
content: Poetry
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Phillis Wheatley Peters Collection
label: Classification
content: Books and Published Materials
label: Movement
content: Anti-slavery movements
label: Movement
content: Abolitionist movement
label: Exhibition
content: Slavery and Freedom
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: A2021.113.1.7
objectType: label: Type
content: hardcover books
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper with leather and cardboard
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 7 3/16 × 4 7/16 × 1/2 in. (18.2 × 11.2 × 1.2 cm)