[The Slave Ship 'Brooks'.] Engraving. Philadelphia: J. P. Parke, 1808. Approx. 12 x 18 in. From Thomas Clarkson. The History of the Rise, Progress & Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African slave-trade by the British Parliament, 1808. 

The infamous diagram of the slave ship Brookes that shows every inch of the hold filled to capacity by prone enslaved individuals. The drawing was commissioned by British abolitionists in 1788 to raise awareness of the shocking inhumanity and cruelty of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The arresting image was exceedingly effective in its messaging, requiring no commentary to convey the brutality of slavery. Use of the image proliferated among abolitionists, including William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, who included this version in the 1808 publication of The History of the Rise, Progress & Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African slave-trade by the British Parliament.

AN IMPORTANT ABOLITIONIST IMAGE OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation]  [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Art, Folk Art, Military Art, Etching, Engraving, Lithographs, Prints, Ephemera]