Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an AfricanBorn on a slave ship enroute to the West Indies, orphaned by the age of two and taken to England by his owner, Ignatius Sancho rose from servitude to include among his friends noted artists, writers, actors, and prominent politicians. Sancho first gained celebrity when one of his letters appeared in the novelist Laurence Sterne's Letters (1775) and, inspired by the editor's desire to show "that an untutored African may possess abilities equal to a European", two volumes of Sancho's letters were published shortly after his death. The literary quality and the historical importance of the letters endure, revealing a man of sensitivity, intellect, and charm, while also presenting an unusual chronicle of the times. Sancho offers young men fatherly advice on their futures; writes flirtatiously to young women; relates the joys and sorrows of family life; swaps literary jokes; and comments perceptively on the issues of the day. His thoughts on race and politics -- including his criticism of British imperialism in India, the complicity of Africans in the slave trade, and the blatant racism that flourishes in his adopted homeland -- will be of particular interest to twentieth-century readers. While some letters may have been abridged because of the original editor's concerns about public sensitivities, they remain a powerful testament to the injustices of racial discrimination. |
From inside the book
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... August 1779 letter to William Stevenson to The Gentleman's Magazine on 5 April 1781 to ad- vertise " that a collection of his Letters is preparing for the pub- lick . " The two volumes of the first edition of Sancho's Letters were sold ...
... August 1751 ) are repre- sentative : " It was the wisdom , " says Seneca , " of antient times , to consider what is most useful as most illustrious . " If this rule be applied to works of genius , scarcely any species of composition ...
... August 1775 , he jokingly chastises Lydia Leach for having flouted the rules of the genre : " I can never excuse in- tolerable scrawls — and I do tell you that for writing conversable letters you are wholly unfit - no talent - no nature ...
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