Beschreibung:

WHEATLEY, PHILLIS. Autograph manuscript of the 70-line dramatic poem, "Ocean," n.p., n.d. [ca. September 1773]. 3.1/8 pages, 4to, 223 x 183mm. (8 x 7 in.)., small ink stain at extreme lower edge, page 4 bearing the concluding two lines of verse and a docket in a contemporary hand: "Ocean A poem by Phillis in her handwriting made on her return from England in Capt. Calo. Sept. 1773." A VERY RARE MANUSCRIPT OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN POET, PHILLIS WHEATLEY The only known copy of an unpublished poem believed lost and previously known only from its title having appeared in the prospectus of a 1779 collection of Wheatley's poems and letters which was never issued. The proposal for the collection appeared as an advertisement in the Boston Evening Post and General Advertiser in some six issues between 30 October and 18 December 1779 and solicited subscriptions for "A Volume of Poems and Letters, on Various Subjects," to be dedicated "to the right Honourable Benjamin Franklin" (whom Wheatley had met in London). The prospectus went on to state that the author, Phillis Peters (Wheatley's married name), was "a Female African , whose lot it was to fall into the hands of a generous master and great benefactor." Subscribers were invited "to encourage the publication...that they may fan the sacred fire which, is self enkindled in the breast of this young African," and "that the ingenious author may be encouraged to improve her own mind, benefit and please mankind." The collection was to have been "printed on good paper and a neat type," and to contain about 300 pages. Subscriptions, at the rather high price of 9 in paper and 12 "neatly bound and lettered" were to be paid to White and Adams, publishers, in Boston, but evidently the offering was not successful enough to fund the publication and most of the 33 poems and 13 letters it was to contain remained in manuscript. Many are today lost, and the rediscovery of "Ocean" is an important addition to the corpus of Wheatley's poetical works. (We are grateful to Mark E. Mitchell for supplying the text of the prospectus.) According to the contemporary note on page 4, "Ocean" was composed by Wheatley on her 1773 return voyage from England. The poem commences: "Now muse divine, thy heav'nly aid impart, The feast of Genius, and the play of Art. From high Parnassus' radiant top repair, Celestial Nine! propitious to my pray'rs. In vain my Eyes explore the water'y reign..." Wheatley (c.1753-1784), born in Africa, was captured by slavers in Senegal at about 8 years of age; she was purchased by John Wheatley, a prosperous tailor of Boston, to serve as personal servant to his wife. Her innate abilities became apparent, and the Wheatleys took the trouble to tutor her. She quickly became proficient in English, read widely in English poetry, the Bible, philosophy and classical literature and cultivated an elegant cursive handwriting. At about 13 years of age, she composed a verse tribute "To the University of Cambridge in New England," and in 1770 "An Elegaic Poem on the Death of the Celebrated Divine...George Whitefield" was published as a broadside. In 1773 she went to England for her health and was well received by members of the nobility, especially Lord Dartmouth. "In addition to her gift for writing she appears to have been an unusual conversationalist and to have had no little personal charm. Her popularity in London was immediate and great" (DAB). Her first collection of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in London that year. Due to illness in the Wheatley family, she returned home, was later set free, married, but died in poverty in 1784. EXTREMELY RARE: no letter or manuscript of Wheatley has appeared on the market in at least three decades.