The Abolition of the English Slave Trade

In 1939, Maggs Brothers Ltd. published catalogue number 677, which included 477 items that documented “The History of the Slave Trade and its Abolition”. It was one of several seminal catalogues issued by Maggs on a variety of subjects in the decades immediately before and after Word War II. In the years that followed, the subject of the slave trade never attained the degree of interest it deserved. Recently, this has changed.  

The 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade in 2007 inspired a series of museum exhibitions, television programmes and articles which raised the awareness of this compelling subject. Maggs has devoted increasing attention to the slave trade. We have acquired outstanding books and manuscripts relevant to the field and have advised private and institutional clients who are interested in building slave trade collections.

In the spring of 2009, Maggs published a 74-item catalogue which chronicles the slave trade and its abolition. It has received wide acclaim from collectors, librarians and the book trade alike. Among the rarities described are a landmark work in defence of the slave trade printed by slaves in Jamaica, and a magnificent presentation copy of William Wilberforce’s A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians. 

Click here for a selection of slave trade items recently added to stock. Catalogue 1431 is available for download here. For additional information, please contact John O’Mara (johnomara@maggs.com).