Item #68646 Historical Account if the Black Empire of Hayti. Marcus RAINSFORD.
Historical Account if the Black Empire of Hayti
Historical Account if the Black Empire of Hayti
Historical Account if the Black Empire of Hayti

First Edition, in Original Boards

Historical Account if the Black Empire of Hayti. Comprehending a View of the Principal Transactions in the Revolution of Saint Domingo; With its Ancient and Modern State.

London: Albion Press Prinmted: Published by James Cundee, 1805.

Full Description:

RAINSFORD, Marcus. An Historical Account if the Black Empire of Hayti. Comprehending a View of the Principal Transactions in the Revolution of Saint Domingo; With its Ancient and Modern State. London: Albion Press Prinmted: Published by James Cundee, 1805.

First edition. Quarto (11 x 8 3/4 inches; 280 x 222 mm). xxiii, [1, errata], 467, [1, blank], [9, index], [3, advertisements] pp. Complete with eleven engraved plates including the frontispiece and a two leaf facsimile letter in French of Toussaint Louverture. In addition, there is a folding map and a folding plan. With half-title.

Original drab boards, rebacked to style with original printed paper label. Uncut and partially unopened. Boards and spine rubbed and a bit soiled. Paper label is a bit rubbed but still legible. Some foxing and toning, mainly to preliminary leaves. Edges a bit darkend and brittle. Small closed tear to lower margin of plate captioned "View of a Temple", just barly touching caption. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown. Overall very good.

"Marcus Rainsford was a soldier who served for many years with the British Army in the British West Indies. He visited Haiti in 1799, where he became an admirer of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the former slave who led Haiti's revolution and struggle to end slavery. This book is Rainsford's account of the slave uprising that began in August 1791 and the subsequent fighting that, at different times, involved French, Spanish, and British troops and various factions in Haiti. The book includes the first known representations of Toussaint, which were engravings made from Rainsford's sketches and descriptions. Also included are extensive documentation of the revolution and Rainsford's disturbing accounts of the brutal treatment of the slave population by their French masters, as well as of the atrocities committed by all sides in the course of the struggle. Toussaint died in Paris in April 1803, after having been seized by French forces acting under orders from Napoleon Bonaparte, who in 1802 sent an army to Haiti in attempt to reassert French control. Rainsford's wholly admiring account of Toussaint appears in chapter 5 of the work." (Library of Congress).

Sabin 67531.

HBS 68646.

$1,850.

Price: $1,850.00

Item #68646

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