View Slideshow for The American Female Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notices
Written by
May, Caroline, English, c. 1820 - 1895
Wheatley Peters, Phillis, American, ca. 1753 - 1784
Subject of
Wheatley Peters, Phillis, American, ca. 1753 - 1784
Published by
Lindsay and Blakiston, American, 1843 - 1882
Date
1848
Medium
ink on paper with leather and cardboard
Dimensions
H x W x D: 8 7/8 × 6 5/16 × 1 5/8 in. (22.5 × 16 × 4.1 cm)
Caption
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.
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.
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.
Description
Hardcover edition of The American Female Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notes by Caroline May, published in 1848 by Lindsay and Blakiston in Philadelphia. The entry for "Phillis Wheatley," spanning pages 39 to 41, includes a biographical note and the poems "On the Death of a Young Gentleman of Great Promise" and "Sleep." Frontispiece is a two-tone octagonal portrait of Frances S. Osgood. Front flyleaf has an inscription at center in black ink that reads [Cara Amelia Sturges / from her husband]. There is a small tear at the tail of the spine. Interior pages are in very good condition with some foxing. 559 numbered pages.
Place printed
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
Collection title
Phillis Wheatley Peters Collection
Classification
Books and Published Materials
Movement
Anti-slavery movements
Abolitionist movement
Type
hardcover books
Topic
Literature
Poetry
Slavery
Women
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
A2021.113.1.25
Restrictions & Rights
Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5d9458d87-8be6-4352-b6c8-4bf49f5cbe49

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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