Enslavement & the Struggle for Liberation: Commemorating the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the British Transatlantic Slave Trade, 25 March 1807

To mark the 200th anniversary of the parliamentary abolition of the British Transatlantic slave trade, a small display of related books and documents will be shown in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library.

The 1789 first edition of The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African is among the exhibits. Equiano was an enslaved African who bought his own freedom, eventually settling in England. His autobiography describes his experiences of the slave trade and slavery in Africa, England, the Caribbean and America and is a powerful anti-slavery text. The book became a publishing phenomenon, with nine British editions (as well as several imprints in other countries) before the author's death in 1797.

Also displayed is the minute book of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which was formed on 22 May, 1787, by 12 men - nine Quakers and three Anglicans - in order to campaign for an end to the slave trade. The group, soon renamed The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, created a powerful popular movement that strengthened William Wilberforce's campaign in Parliament for abolition.

Many practices relating to the slave trade were little known to most of the British public. The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade researched and publicised this information in radical new ways. A plan of the slave ship Brookes was produced by the abolitionist campaigners. The plan, which shows 482 captives on board, was widely circulated in the press, making 'an instantaneous impression of horror upon all who saw it'.

A watercolour drawing of the Lucky Valley Estate, Clarendon, Jamaica depicts a plantation owned by Edward Long, a pro-slavery historian of Jamaica. This drawing is typical of images of the Caribbean during the period of enslavement, as the artist captures the breathtaking beauty of the island's landscape but omits all reference to the labour or resistance of the enslaved. Another image shows Cape Coast Castle, which was the British headquarters on the Gold Coast (Ghana). Enslaved Africans were held here before being forced on to ships bound for the Caribbean and the Americas.

The British Library, in collaboration with BBC London, will host a commemorative day, Passage of Time - Uncovering the Untold Histories of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, on Saturday 24 March, which will include talks, performances and debates.

For more information or images, please contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk

Notes for Editors

Enslavement & the Struggle for Liberation is on display in The Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library from 24 March to 1 July 2007. Admission free.

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