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"Headed as 'No. 5' and 'No.6,' and like issued together, these two letters are dated December 31 and January 1 and specify the conditions of the general amnesty proclaimed on December 5th by the three civil commissioners from France." –Description from William Reese Company.

"...An unrecorded pamphlet, printed by a government press in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, documenting the emotional and political reactions to the beginnings of the Haitian Revolution, a critical moment in Caribbean colonial history.

On 14 August 1791, under the charge of enslaved leader Dutty Boukman, and the Vodou prophetess Cécile Fatiman, about two hundred enslaved people in the northern regions of the isle of Saint-Domingue took the Oath of Bois Caïman, committing to an orchestrated revolt against their white enslavers. The conflict was the only successful revolt of enslaved people in modern history and resulted in the establishment of the autonomous nation of Haiti in 1804, after 13 years of open conflict.

The document was printed during the initial shockwave generated by the rebellion, which began in the north of the island and developed after mass killings of white landowners and their families into a military conflict between revolutionary factions. Our document, written by one Goujon representative of the people of the commune of Cayes and addressed to the Colonial Assembly of Saint Domingue urges three central points: 1) A strengthening of the role of communes and municipalities in order to consolidate republican ideals on the island; 2) maintenance of freedom of the press, which had been restricted in other parts of the colony, and 3) delegation of the restoration of order to the executive branch of the government in the face of the accelerating violence of the rebellion..."--Description from W. S. Cotter Rare Books.

A growing collection of documents, photographs, and correspondence pertaining to the capture, purchase, bargaining, and freedom of enslaved people in Europe, Africa, and the Americas from the 18th to the 20th century. The collection contains a variety of petitions, contracts, estate settlements, and ephemera that record the activities of enslaved people during that era and illustrate the relationship between enslaved people and the people who enslaved them, as well as local government policy regarding enslavement and ownership in various parts of the Americas. Also included the collection are images and ephemera that feature racial caricatures, which were prevalent during their time of printing.

"[ Printed Commission, Completed in manuscript, signed by Légér-Félicité Sonthonax, appointing the Mulatto General Villate as Commander of Cap-Français ]. Cap-Français, Oct. 10, 1793. Broadside, 18 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches, completed in manuscript. During the early years of the French Revolution, Sonthonax was the civil commissioner of Saint Domnigue, which would soon become Haiti. A radical Jacobin, he presided over a chaoiic period of conflicts between royalists and revolutionaries and between whites, free people of color, and slaves in full revolt. He is most remembered for freeing the colony's slaves on Aug. 29, 1793 in an effort to gain the support of Toussaint L'Ouverture's forces against the Spanish. This document appoints the mulatto general, Villate, a rival of Toussaint's, as military commander of the city. It is signed by Sonthonax and countersigned by French military leader Etienne LaVeaux, who later assumed the governorship for himself, but he held power only briefly before deposed by Toussaint. A large woodcut vignette proclaiming 'La Republique Française, Une et Indivisible' heads the document. All early printed material from Saint Domingue is, in and of itself, rare by nature. A handsome and important piece, signed by two important figures in the early Haitian revolution, formalizing the rise to power of a third." -William Reese Company

"Shirley, Henry. [Autograph letter signed, to Stephen Fuller in London, concerning the election of Roland Sewell as agent in England for the Jamaica Assembly and other matters concerning the island.] Kingston [Jamaica.] 16 November 1794. Autograph letter signed. 4to (19 x 22cm) [3] pages on bifolium, second leaf with marginal tear from seal opening (not touching text), verso with manuscript address panel & postal markings, old folds...[TOGETHER WITH] Taylor, Simon. [Autograph letter signed, to Stephen Fuller in London, concerning the election of Roland Sewell as agent in England for the Jamaica Assembly.]Kingston Jamaica, 13 December 1794. Autograph letter signed. 4to (20 x 24cm) [1] page on bifolium, second leaf with marginal tear from seal opening (not touching text), verso with manuscript address panel & postal markings, old folds...Sent from Jamaica to London addressed to Stephen Fuller (1716-1799), from 1764 to 1794 agent in England for the Jamaica Assembly, these two letters were penned by wealthy planters Henry Shirley II (1745-1812) and Simon Taylor (1739-1813), both supporters of Fuller writing to him after his loss of the post of agent following the appointment of Robert Sewell (1751-1828) by vote of the assembly in 1794. Taylor, one of the richest men in Jamaica (see: ODNB), explains in detail the political machinations behind the voting in of Sewell. In addition to discussion of the election Shirley provides a list of how each assembly member voted, also writing with details concerning the 'fatal pestilential fever' afflicting several parishes of Jamaica, commenting on losses to the army and navy as a result of infection and noting how plantation slaves were not affected." –Description from Samuel Gedge, bookseller

Flyer advertising the Haitian American Historical Society's embarkment on constructing a statue for General Georges (Jorge) Biassou.

The Leon Robbin Collection contains two full-color prints of two similar engravings from the work Marriage À-La-Mode by William Hogarth. The prints are designed by William Hogarth and engraved by Thomas Cook. They are dated February 1st and October 1st, 1978, and are noted to be published by G. G. & J. Robinson, Pater-noster Row. They are sized 17 x 22 inches. Each is noted as being "fine original impression, proof before the title."

The journal of Aaron Thomas is a 374 page leather-bound volume containing approximately 367 pages of handwritten material. The journal begins on June 15, 1798 and concludes on October 26, 1799, and chronicles the experiences and adventures of a British seaman serving in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Lapwing in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary wars. The journal contains insightful, first-hand accounts of naval operations, customs of the day, and humorous, detailed anecdotes involving shipmates and superiors. Thomas, who joined the navy in 1793, includes entries regarding the health and punishment of the men aboard ship, as well as his personal views on slavery, religion, and morality. With the exception of the final three pages, all entries are written in Thomas's hand.

"A very interesting and highly detailed letter regarding the invasion of Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, in September 1800, dated Philadelphia, from William Hampton to Robert Ralston. Hampton was the commander of the merchant brig, Sally, of Philadelphia, Robert Ralston whom the letter is addressed was during the fight to drive the French off, for which he was acclaimed in the contemporary letter copy addressed to the Secretary of State, John Marshall, Marshall in 1800 helped negotiate the Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine, which put an end to the skirmishes between the two countries in the Caribbean which had been going on since the XYZ affair. The type of skirmishes described in these manuscripts." -The New Antiquarian

The collection contains documentation of medical conferences and courses on various subjects offered at the University of Havana School of Medicine.

"Letter, in French, concerning a financial dispute concerning slaves bought by a French trader on Guadeloupe from an English slave ship and then sold on a sailors to another English vessel. The English vessel, a slave ship, is named." -The New Antiquarian

"A letter from the Thoré brothers, Louis and B. Thoré to their father Paul Thoré, Paul Thoré was originally from Gers, left in the middle of the eighteenth century for Martinique and settled in St. Pierre, where he made a fortune as a trader. His children were born there. He returned to Gers in 1792, where he bought property newly confiscated by the State - the Abbaye de Flaran and the Chateau de Cassaigne. The Thoré brothers write about the seizure of their vessel by the English and discuss the use of Danish ships as neutral vessels." -The New Antiquarian

"A very important deed between Sir William Templer Pole, of co. Devon; Scrope Berdmore, Andrew Berkeley Drummond, of Middx.; George Templer, of co. Middx.; William Lowndes Stone, of co. Oxford; and Owen Putland, Meyrick of the Isle of Anglesea; relates to an agreement between the above-mentioned parties concerning several plantations and lands in several parishes in the island of St. Christopher, written on three large skins of parchment, with signatures and seals of all parties, dated 1807." –description adhered to the front of the document.

"This indenture dated 23 June 1807 concerns a mortgage on two sugar plantations on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts: NicholaTown plantation in the parish of Christ Church, NicholaTown, and Golden Rock plantation in the parish of St. Peter Basseterre, with the related utensils, slaves & cattle. The indenture recites extracts from various deeds charting the ownership of the plantations back to John Mills of Woodford in 1750s." –description from Samuel Gedge, bookseller

"Group of 7 documents relating to Jean-Pierre Boyer and his Presidency. Vp, 1808-25.

Jean-Pierre Boyer was the longest-tenured Haitian Leader of his era, serving as president from 1818 to 1843. Under his rule, the competing northern and southern parts of Haiti were united, and Spanish Haiti (now the Dominican Republic) was annexed.

This lot includes: Receipt for the sale of a horse to General Bazelais, possibly signed by Boyer as a lieutenant colonel, 4 July 1808, and then signed over on verso by Bazelais to General Delva, 1809 Receipt signed by General Boyer to Madame Daran for a horse, 24 October 1811 Pair of documents regarding a requisition submitted by C. Babeuf, one endorsed with General Boyer's signature and the other by President Petion, 15 April 1815 Pair of documents signed by Joseph Latortue in the northern part of Haiti, the first as a baron while the north was still an independent kingdom, the second as administrator under Boyer's united Haiti, 26 April 1817 and 11 February 1823 Receipt on official letterhead signed by President Boyer, issued to General Benjamin Noel for a house purchased from the state, 16 July 1825." -Libreria de Antano, Buenos Ayres

The papers consist primarily of facsimilies and copies of documents relating to colonial Cuba.