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Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African. In two volumes. To which are prefixed, memoirs of his life. Vol. I. (II.)
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SANCHO, Ignatius (1729--1780)
[Letters. 1782]
Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African. In two volumes. To which are prefixed, memoirs of his life. Vol. I. (II.)
London (Place), printed by J. Nichols: and sold by J. Dodsley; J. Robson; J. Walter; R. Baldwin; and J. Sewell,, 1782.
2 vols ; 17.5 cm. (8º)
I: [4], ii, [v]--lvii, [1], 22, [2], 23--204 p., engr. frontis. port.
II: [4], 224 p., engr. frontis.
Ignatius Sancho (c.1729-80) was a gifted author, composer and shopkeeper. He had been born on the horrific ‘Middle Passage’ en route to the Caribbean, when his African parents had been forcibly transported. His mother named him Ignatius but died on arrival in Granada, and his father committed suicide rather than living enslaved. Aged 2, Sancho was taken by his ‘owner’ to England and given to three spinster sisters in Greenwich who surnamed him Sancho, as he reminded them of Don Quixote’s squire. The sisters failed to educate the young Sancho, but happily he met locally the 2nd Duke of Montagu, who recognising Sancho’s intelligence, bade him visit regularly, providing education and books. After the 2nd Duke’s death in 1749, Sancho fled to the Dowager Duchess, was freed and appointed as her butler. At the Dowager Duchess’s death in 1751, Sancho was provided for in her will, and launched an unsuccessful stage career. In 1766 he was appointed by the late Duke’s son-in-law, the 1st Duke of Montagu (of the 2nd creation) as his valet. Montagu enabled Sancho to meet an array of society, as evidenced by the aristocratic dedicatees of his various published musical compositions. Sancho also published newspaper essays expressing his allegiance to Britain and the monarchy under his own name and the pseudonym Africanus. He was the first Afro-Briton to publish in Britain. By January 1774 Sancho was suffering from gout and unfit to continue his service as Montagu’s valet, so the Duke assisted him in establishing a grocery shop in Westminster. He sold goods, interestingly, including tobacco, sugar and tea produced by enslaved people in the Caribbean. It was this property ownership and financial independence which qualified Sancho to vote – the first Afro-Briton to do so – in 1774 and 1780. He died in December 1780 and was the first Afro-Briton to receive an obituary in the British press. (DNB) Sancho was a keen correspondent with his many friends of varied ages and social status – ranging from the Duchess of Northumberland to the sculptor Joseph Nollekens – writing with a friendly ease and often discussing current events in the most informed and humorous manner. In 1775, one of his letters was published in the Letters… of Laurence Sterne, bringing him considerable celebrity. Sancho had encouraged Sterne in his opposition of slavery. To abolitionists, Sancho personified the humanity and worthiness of the African people, and the grave immorality of slavery. Even Thomas Jefferson acknowledged the quality of Sancho’s writing. In accord with the abolitionists, in 1782, one of Sancho’s correspondents, Frances Crewe, compiled and edited his letters with ‘the desire of shewing that an untutored African may possess abilities equal to an European’. This first edition of his Letters was published posthumously by subscription, with more than 1,200 subscribers, and providing Sancho’s widow with a profit of over £500. 'The life of Ignatius Sancho' (vol. I, pp. [v]--xvi) was written by Joseph Jekyll. The title plate is illustrated with a portrait of Sancho, engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi after a 1768 painting by William Gainsborough, produced when Sancho was Montagu’s valet, and now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Importantly, Sancho is not shown in a servant’s livery, but rather, in a sumptuous waistcoat, indicating his valued position within the Montagu household. Following p. 22 of vol. I is an additional letter 'communicated to the Editor too late to be inserted in its proper place'. ESTC t100345; Sabin 76310.
Copy Notes Bought from Thomas Boone for 4s., 9 June 1804. (Priv. Corr. XVI.E.1.4). With Boone's hieroglyphs in pencil on the front free-endpaper of vol. I.
Binding C18th vellum, gilt-tooled borders and spine, red and green morocco spine-labels, gilt edges.
Reference Number 4597
Additional Names Thomas Boone; Jekyll, Joseph (1754--1837); Crewe, Frances
[Letters. 1782]
Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African. In two volumes. To which are prefixed, memoirs of his life. Vol. I. (II.)
London (Place), printed by J. Nichols: and sold by J. Dodsley; J. Robson; J. Walter; R. Baldwin; and J. Sewell,, 1782.
2 vols ; 17.5 cm. (8º)
I: [4], ii, [v]--lvii, [1], 22, [2], 23--204 p., engr. frontis. port.
II: [4], 224 p., engr. frontis.
Ignatius Sancho (c.1729-80) was a gifted author, composer and shopkeeper. He had been born on the horrific ‘Middle Passage’ en route to the Caribbean, when his African parents had been forcibly transported. His mother named him Ignatius but died on arrival in Granada, and his father committed suicide rather than living enslaved. Aged 2, Sancho was taken by his ‘owner’ to England and given to three spinster sisters in Greenwich who surnamed him Sancho, as he reminded them of Don Quixote’s squire. The sisters failed to educate the young Sancho, but happily he met locally the 2nd Duke of Montagu, who recognising Sancho’s intelligence, bade him visit regularly, providing education and books. After the 2nd Duke’s death in 1749, Sancho fled to the Dowager Duchess, was freed and appointed as her butler. At the Dowager Duchess’s death in 1751, Sancho was provided for in her will, and launched an unsuccessful stage career. In 1766 he was appointed by the late Duke’s son-in-law, the 1st Duke of Montagu (of the 2nd creation) as his valet. Montagu enabled Sancho to meet an array of society, as evidenced by the aristocratic dedicatees of his various published musical compositions. Sancho also published newspaper essays expressing his allegiance to Britain and the monarchy under his own name and the pseudonym Africanus. He was the first Afro-Briton to publish in Britain. By January 1774 Sancho was suffering from gout and unfit to continue his service as Montagu’s valet, so the Duke assisted him in establishing a grocery shop in Westminster. He sold goods, interestingly, including tobacco, sugar and tea produced by enslaved people in the Caribbean. It was this property ownership and financial independence which qualified Sancho to vote – the first Afro-Briton to do so – in 1774 and 1780. He died in December 1780 and was the first Afro-Briton to receive an obituary in the British press. (DNB) Sancho was a keen correspondent with his many friends of varied ages and social status – ranging from the Duchess of Northumberland to the sculptor Joseph Nollekens – writing with a friendly ease and often discussing current events in the most informed and humorous manner. In 1775, one of his letters was published in the Letters… of Laurence Sterne, bringing him considerable celebrity. Sancho had encouraged Sterne in his opposition of slavery. To abolitionists, Sancho personified the humanity and worthiness of the African people, and the grave immorality of slavery. Even Thomas Jefferson acknowledged the quality of Sancho’s writing. In accord with the abolitionists, in 1782, one of Sancho’s correspondents, Frances Crewe, compiled and edited his letters with ‘the desire of shewing that an untutored African may possess abilities equal to an European’. This first edition of his Letters was published posthumously by subscription, with more than 1,200 subscribers, and providing Sancho’s widow with a profit of over £500. 'The life of Ignatius Sancho' (vol. I, pp. [v]--xvi) was written by Joseph Jekyll. The title plate is illustrated with a portrait of Sancho, engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi after a 1768 painting by William Gainsborough, produced when Sancho was Montagu’s valet, and now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Importantly, Sancho is not shown in a servant’s livery, but rather, in a sumptuous waistcoat, indicating his valued position within the Montagu household. Following p. 22 of vol. I is an additional letter 'communicated to the Editor too late to be inserted in its proper place'. ESTC t100345; Sabin 76310.
Copy Notes Bought from Thomas Boone for 4s., 9 June 1804. (Priv. Corr. XVI.E.1.4). With Boone's hieroglyphs in pencil on the front free-endpaper of vol. I.
Binding C18th vellum, gilt-tooled borders and spine, red and green morocco spine-labels, gilt edges.
Reference Number 4597
Additional Names Thomas Boone; Jekyll, Joseph (1754--1837); Crewe, Frances