Explore Black History

1808

Phillis Wheatley Peters (c. 1753 – 1784) was born in West Africa and captured by slave traders as a child, whereupon she was sold to John and Susanna Wheatley of Boston, Massachusetts. She was named after the slave ship on which she was transported to the Americas and the name of her enslavers, but her surname of Peters is that of the man she married in 1778—John Peters, a free man of color.
The story of the discovery of her talent by the Wheatley family is oft told—they taught her to read and write, and by age fourteen, she had begun to write poetry that was soon published and circulated amongst the elites of late eighteenth century America and Great Britain. Her first and only volume of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), was published in London with the assistance of wealthy abolitionists. Peters’ poetry brought her renown in abolitionist circles as proof of the humanity of those of African descent and the inhumanity of the institution of slavery.
The Wheatleys manumitted Peters in 1773 under pressure from critics who saw the hypocrisy in praising Peters’ talent while keeping her enslaved. They died within a few years of this decision, and Peters soon met and married grocer John Peters. Her life afterwards was indicative of the troubled freedom of African Americans of the period, who were emancipated but not fully integrated into the promise of American citizenship. Peters was also affected by the loss of all three of her children—the birth of the last of whom caused her premature death at age 31 In 1784. Despite being feted as a prodigy while enslaved, the emancipated Peters struggled to find the support necessary for producing a second volume of poetry and her husband’s financial struggles forced her to find work as a scullery maid—the lowest position of domestic help. Posthumous publications of Peters’ poetry in various anthologies and periodicals solidified her image as a child poet for the benefit of abolitionist activism and African American cultural pride in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the twenty-first century, the accumulation of this collection is a restoration of Peters the woman and the influence of her poetry and activism today.

A first edition of De la Littérature des Nègres by Henri Grégoire, printed in 1808 in Paris, France, for bookseller Chez Maradan. The text contains biographical portraits of fifteen prominent Black individuals, including Francis Williams, Phillis Wheatley, Jean-Baptiste Lislet Geoffroy, Ignatius Sancho, Thomas Fuller, Jacobus Capitein, Ottobah Cugoan, Benjamin Bannaker, and Olaudah Equiano. Three of Wheatley's poems are printed in English with French translations on pages 260 through 272. Grégoire critiques Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, his false sympathy towards Africans, and his grudging acknowledgement of the talent and potential of individuals of African descent. Foxing is visible on interior pages. Spine has abrasions on the head and tail. Covers are bent inwards towards the text block. 287 numbered pages.

Book with poems by Phillis Wheatley and a biographical portrait

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Phillis Wheatley Peters Collection

Books and Published Materials

Anti-slavery movements
Abolitionist movement

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African American History and Culture

A2021.113.1.16

hardcover books

Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

ink on paper with leather and cardboard

H x W x D: 8 1/8 × 5 1/4 × 13/16 in. (20.6 × 13.4 × 2.1 cm)

Title • De la Littérature des Nègres, ou recherches sur leurs facultés intellectuelles, leurs qualités morales et leur littérature; suivi de Notices sur la vie et les ouvrages des nègres qui se sont distingués dans les Sciences, les Lettres et les Arts

nmaahc_A2021.113.1.16

NMAAHC

DE LA LITTÉRATURE DES NÈGRES, OU RECHERCHES SUR LEURS FACULTÉS INTELLECTUELLES, LEURS QUALITÉS MORALES ET LEUR LITTÉRATURE; SUIVI DE NOTICES SUR LA VIE ET LES OUVRAGES DES NÈGRES QUI SE SONT DISTINGUÉS DANS LES SCIENCES, LES LETTRES ET LES ARTS

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1800s

Wheatley Peters, Phillis • Gre´goire, Henri

Europe • France • Paris

Slavery • Women • Literature • Abolitionist movement • Anti-slavery movements • Poetry

African Americans • Catholics

City • Paris • Country • France • Continent • Europe

Images

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