[Rarebooks] FS: Rainsford's Account of the Slave Uprising in Haiti, 1805, Illustrated with maps and plates

[Charles Agvent]

 From our catalog posted this week:
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RAINSFORD, Marcus. AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE BLACK EMPIRE OF HAYTI: 
COMPREHENDING A VIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL TRANSACTIONS IN THE REVOLUTION OF 
SAINT DOMINGO; WITH ITS ANTIENT AND MODERN STATE. [London]: Albion Press 
Printed : Published by James Cundee, 1805. First Edition. Quarto (7-3/4" 
x 10-1/4") bound in dark brown morocco leather with gilt-lettered 
morocco spine label; [ii] - xxiii, [i], 467, [blank], [7], [3] pages. 
Lacks the half-title page but otherwise complete with index, ads, and 
all plates listed. Illustrated with 2 maps, 9 full-page engraved plates, 
and a facsimile of a letter of Toussaint. From the World Digital Library 
website: "Marcus Rainsford was a soldier who served for many years with 
the British Army in the British West Indies. He visited Haiti in 1799, 
where he became an admirer of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the former slave 
who led Haiti's revolution and struggle to end slavery. This book is 
Rainsford's account of the slave uprising that began in August 1791 and 
the subsequent fighting that, at different times, involved French, 
Spanish, and British troops and various factions in Haiti. The book 
includes the first known representations of Toussaint, which were 
engravings made from Rainsford's sketches and descriptions. Also 
included are extensive documentation of the revolution and Rainsford's 
disturbing accounts of the brutal treatment of the slave population by 
their French masters, as well as of the atrocities committed by all 
sides in the course of the struggle. Toussaint died in Paris in April 
1803, after having been seized by French forces acting under orders from 
Napoleon Bonaparte, who in 1802 sent an army to Haiti in attempt to 
reassert French control. Rainsford's wholly admiring account of 
Toussaint appears in chapter 5 of the work." The plates and maps in this 
volume depict the following subjects: 1. The Author in Conversation. 2. 
Map of the Island. (folding) 3. Plan of Cape Francois. (folding) 4. View 
of the Temple erected by the Blacks. 5. Court-Martial of the Blacks. 6. 
Benevolence of a Female of Colour. 7. Toussaint L'Ouverture. 8. Mode of 
exterminating the Blacks by the French. 9. Revenge of the Blacks on the 
French. 10. Devastation of the Blood-Hounds (attacking a family in the 
Woods). 11. Facsimile of a Letter of Toussaint. 12. Mode of rearing 
Blood Hounds.  Some browning to the preliminaries and minor foxing on 
some leaves. There is a small ink library stamp to the title page. The 
map of the Island is somewhat browned. The plan of Cape Francois has 
suffered from indifferent folding and is missing a small piece on the 
bottom center of the plan, but otherwise the volume has ample margins, 
clear print, and generally clean pages throughout. All of the plates and 
maps are excellent impressions. The front joint is split, but the board 
is holding very firm by the cords. Very Good.

"Marcus Rainsford's work printed a year after Saint-Domingue officially 
became Haiti, is a retrospective of the history of the island up until 
that time. The plates include some wonderful, dramatic, and sometimes 
incendiary engravings. The work also includes an almost regal portrait 
of Toussaint L'Ouverture. The engravings contained in this work are 
probably some of the most powerful among the illustrative history of the 
Haitian revolution." From the John Carter Brown Library Page "Remember 
Haiti." (#017238)        $1,600.00

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