Wheatley, Phillis

12mo (6 1 /4 x 4 3/4 ins.; 165 x 110 mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece has lightly offset onto title, free endpaper nearly detached, overall a few stray spots and expected light browning. Contemporary calf with gilt-tooled board edges; rubbed and scuffed, ends worn with loss to calf exposing boards on upper cover and a spot of exposure on rear cover, upper joint cracked but cords holding.

John Gribbel (bookplate to pastedown), (his sale, Part II, Parke-Bernet, January 24, 1941, lot 766 (part)).

Engraved portrait frontispiece has lightly offset onto title, free endpaper nearly detached, overall a few stray spots and expected light browning. Contemporary calf with gilt-tooled board edges; rubbed and scuffed, ends worn with loss to calf exposing boards on upper cover and a spot of exposure on rear cover, upper joint cracked but cords holding.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First editon of the first published volume of poetry by an African-American, this copy signed by Wheatley and very scarce thus.

Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753-1784), brought to Boston from Senegal in 1761, was a slave serving in the household of John Wheatley. Mrs. Wheatley and her daughter tutored Phillis, sparking her appreciation of the classics and the poetry of Pope. Her own occasional verse made her "a kind of poet-laureate in the domestic circles of Boston" (Brawley). On a trip to England in 1773 she was taken up by the salon of the Countess of Huntingdon and the publication of the present work was arranged, the only collection of her verse to appear in her lifetime. She has signed this volume under the copyright notice.