Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African ... To which are prefixed, memoirs of his life

1783

Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780); Collected and edited by Mrs. F. Crew Phillips; memoirs by Joseph Jekyll (1754-1837)

2 vols.

Gainsborough’s celebrated portrait of Sancho, also included in the exhibition, circulated widely in engraved form. In 1781, one year after Sancho’s death, it was reproduced as an independent print by the engraver and Royal Academician Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815). The following year, Bartolozzi’s portrait served as the frontispiece for Sancho’s Letters, which were collected, edited, and published by Sancho’s friend and former correspondent Frances, Lady Crewe (1748–1818). In her preface, Lady Crewe explained that one of the aims of her project was to show “that an untutored African may possess abilities equal to an European.” Sancho’s Letters met with enormous success. The book quickly ran to a second edition, attracting over twelve hundred subscribers, including aristocrats, servants, merchants, politicians, and artists of all political persuasions.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Im Sa55 782b

http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/2724174

Related Media

Ignatius Sancho; ed. Mrs. F. Crew Phillips, with Joseph Jekyll, Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African (2nd ed. London: J. Nicols and C. Dillly, 1783), frontispiece. Ignatius Sancho; ed. Mrs. F. Crew Phillips, with Joseph Jekyll, Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African (2nd ed. London: J. Nicols and C. Dillly, 1783), frontispiece. Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Im Sa55 782b