Letter of Granville Sharp, Esq., of London, to the Maryland Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes and others, Unlawfully held in Bondage.
Baltimore: Yundt and Patton, 1793.
11, [1]pp. 12mo. Modern buckram. Browned ESTC W13445; Evans 26156; Library Company of Philadelphia. Afro-Americana, 9352; Minick, A.R. Maryland, 135; Sabin 79827. Item #365632
"When the anti-slavery movement began to organize nationwide petitioning campaigns Sharp was at the forefront. The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded in 1787. When its London committee was set up on 22 May 1787 he was one of its twelve founding members—and one of only three who were not Quakers. ... Although Sharp was never a popular or even accessible writer, his work was of immense importance to the anti-slavery movement in Britain. It was partly through his efforts that it gained public attention and sympathy and that it transformed itself from a benign climate of opinion to a highly organized campaign. Thomas Clarkson regarded him as a founder of the movement" (ODNB).
Formed in Baltimore in September 1789, the Maryland Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery was among the earliest such organizations in America. Although a large Quaker population supported the movement, the agrarian slave-holding population of the state made their formation and influence controversial. Among the founding members was Joseph Townsend, who served as Secretary of the Society. The present pamphlet published by the Society prints a letter from Sharp, who had joined the society as an honorary corresponding member, to Townsend, detailing his legal and religious arguments for aboliton. Scarce.
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