{"title":"Phillis Wheatley","description":"Phillis Wheatley (1753?-1784) was born in western Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Ghana. Having failed to find an American publisher for a second volume of her works, Wheatley died in Boston largely forgotten and impoverished.","products":[{"product_id":"the-poems-of-phillis-wheatley-as-they-were-originally-published-in-london-1773-1909-hardcover","title":"The Poems Of Phillis Wheatley, As They Were Originally Published In London, 1773 (1909) - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366631211231,"sku":"9781169032453","price":39.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Tr7naTFP_u9781169032453.webp?v=1789095174"},{"product_id":"phillis-wheatley-poems-on-various-subjects-religious-and-moral-and-a-memoir-of-phillis-wheatley-a-native-african-and-a-slave-paperback","title":"Phillis Wheatley: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral and A Memoir of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave - Paperback","description":"","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51369510764767,"sku":"9781804470008","price":12.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/f0yHJ5mtuN9781804470008.webp?v=1789142586"},{"product_id":"complete-writings-paperback","title":"Complete Writings - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe extraordinary writings of Phillis Wheatley, a formerly enslaved woman turned published poet \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1761, a young girl arrived in Boston on a ship of enslaved people, was sold to the Wheatley family, and given the name Phillis Wheatley. After studying English and classical literature, geography, the Bible, and Latin, Phillis published her first poem in 1767 at the age of 14, winning much public attention and considerable fame. When Boston publishers who doubted its authenticity rejected an initial collection of her poetry, Wheatley sailed to London in 1773 and found a publisher there for \u003ci\u003ePoems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis volume collects both Wheatley's letters and her poetry: hymns, elegies, translations, philosophical poems, tales, and epyllions--including a poignant plea to the Earl of Dartmouth urging freedom for America and comparing the country's condition to her own. With her contemplative elegies and her use of the poetic imagination to escape an unsatisfactory world, Wheatley anticipated the Romantic Movement of the following century. The appendices to this edition include poems of Wheatley's contemporary African-American poets: Lucy Terry, Jupiter Harmon, and Francis Williams. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376617685215,"sku":"9780140424300","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/YR1DlenNk69780140424300.webp?v=1789218173"},{"product_id":"poems-on-various-subjects-religious-and-moral-paperback","title":"Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in West Africa in approximately 1753, Wheatley was sold into slavery as a child and transported to the American colonies in 1761. She was bought by a wealthy Boston merchant named John Wheatley to serve as a servant to his family. They gave the young girl the name Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to America. The Wheatley family soon recognized her amazing intellect and talent and started giving her an education very unusual for a slave at that time. Wheatley was taught Greek, Latin, classic literature, and the Bible and began writing poetry at age 14. In 1773, when she was 20 years-old, Wheatley traveled to London with her owner's son and it was there that she published her first collection of poems, \"Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral\". Her work was an instant success and the Wheatley family subsequently freed her from slavery. Wheatley's work reflects her African heritage, religious faith, and her classical education. Her elegant and contemplative odes and elegies are some of the most beautiful poems in early American literature. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376767533279,"sku":"9781420970906","price":10.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/t7lcw2Vszv9781420970906.webp?v=1789225284"},{"product_id":"poems-on-various-subjects-religious-and-moral-paperback-1","title":"Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eWE whose Names are under-written, do assure the World, that the POEMS specified in the following Page, were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl, who was but a few Years since, brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africa... -from the publisher's affidavit Probably the first Black American writer, Phillis Wheatley had to travel to England to see her work published in this 1773 volume, the first collection of poetry by an African America to see print. Her work, considered even at the time sentimental and derivative, was harshly criticized by many, including Thomas Jefferson, and the novelty of its author soon waned to the point that the emancipated Wheatley died in poverty and obscurity. But as one of the earliest firsthand accounts of the slavery in America, it is an important document of life in the colonial era: Some view our sable race with scornful eye, \"Their colour is a diabolic die.\" Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. (from \" On being brought from Africa to America\") PHILLIS WHEATLEY (c.1753-1784) was captured at the age of around seven and brought to America in 1761, where she became a house slave-and near adopted daughter-of Boston merchant John Wheatley. Demonstrating a talent for languages, she was educated alongside the Wheatley children. After being granted her freedom, she married John Peters, a free Black Bostonian.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378324898015,"sku":"9781596052888","price":20.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Fh0MKxH2A-9781596052888.webp?v=1789254403"},{"product_id":"the-poems-of-phillis-wheatley-paperback","title":"The Poems of Phillis Wheatley - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral\u003c\/i\u003e (1773) is the first book of poetry published by an African American author. Written while Wheatley was a slave in Boston, the collection was published in England. Regarded for her mastery of classical poetic form, Phillis Wheatley earned praise from Voltaire and George Washington. \u003ci\u003ePoems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral\u003c\/i\u003e has long been the subject of scholarly work on the history of African American literature, with some critics arguing that Wheatley's poems proved detrimental to the struggle of enslaved African Americans. Whether Wheatley made excuses for slavery or, as some have argued, included subtle critiques of the institution in her writing, her talent and importance to the history of African American literature remain undisputed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite her status as a slave, Phillis Wheatley seems to have viewed herself as a blessed individual, a woman for whom life itself was a sign of God's grace, and in whom talent arose in the form of a foreign language. Many of her poems-elegies, odes, and monologues-are aimed at others. Whether in mourning, in praise, or in warning, Wheatley frequently offers her own voice to university students, royalty, God, the muses, and deceased infants. When she does offer glimpses of herself, for instance, in her poem \"On Being Brought from Africa to America,\" she provides a complex perspective on her status as a slave: \"'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, \/ Taught my benighted soul to understand \/ That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too.\" While her words may seem strange to our modern view of the American institution of slavery, they provide an important historical lens onto the adoption of Christianity by African American slaves, who developed a faith grounded in resistance, hope, and redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, \/ May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.\" Stolen from Africa, Phillis Wheatley persevered through enslavement to become the first published African American poet. These poems of faith, empowerment, and the experience of enslavement not only capture the heart of their author, but illuminate her astounding expertise in classical poetic form.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378333712607,"sku":"9781513277417","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/7vfXDeX6vV9781513277417.webp?v=1789254425"},{"product_id":"poems-on-various-subjects-religious-and-moral-by-an-african-american-slave-woman-writing-in-the-18th-century-paperback","title":"Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral: By an African American Slave Woman, Writing in the 18th Century - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis moving collection of poems by Phillis Wheatley is intended to inspire Christians and tribute various believers who had recently been deceased. Published in 1773, this collection brings together many of Wheatley's finest writings addressed to figures of the day. She writes evocative verse to academic establishments, military officers and even the King of England, with other verses discussing various subjects in verse form, offering condolences and verse commemorating recent events, or the death of a recent loved one. Recognized as one of the first black poets to be widely appreciated in the Western world, Phillis Wheatley was a devoted Christian whose talent with the English language impressed and awed her peers. Wheatley took plenty of influence from past works of poetry, such as Ovid's Metamorphosis. Several of the poems in this collection mention or allude to such masterpieces, the voracious absorption of which helped Phillis Wheatley to learn and hone her creative abilities.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378340495583,"sku":"9781387895083","price":14.36,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/iDMX1gMJCK9781387895083.webp?v=1789254442"},{"product_id":"being-brought-from-africa-to-america-the-best-of-phillis-wheatley-hardcover","title":"Being Brought from Africa to America - The Best of Phillis Wheatley - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003ePhillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) was an American freed slave and poet who wrote the first book of poetry by an African-American. Sold into a slavery in West Africa at the age of around seven, she was taken to North America where she served the Wheatley family of Boston. Phillis was tutored in reading and writing by Mary, the Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, and was reading Latin and Greek classics from the age of twelve. Encouraged by the progressive Wheatleys who recognised her incredible literary talent, she wrote \"To the University of Cambridge\" when she was 14 and by 20 had found patronage in the form of Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. Her works garnered acclaim in both England and the colonies and she became the first African American to make a living as a poet. This volume contains a collection of Wheatley's best poetry, including the titular poem \"Being Brought from Africa to America\". Contents include: \"Phillis Wheatley\", \"Phillis Wheatley by Benjamin Brawley\", \"To Maecenas\", \"On Virtue\", \"To the University of Cambridge\", \"To the King's Most Excellent Majesty\", \"On Being Brought from Africa to America\", \"On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell\", \"On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield\", etc. Ragged Hand is proudly publishing this brand new collection of classic poetry with a specially-commissioned biography of the author.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378503057631,"sku":"9781528773638","price":35.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/rqRfNur4Gf9781528773638.webp?v=1789257922"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/phillis-wheatley.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}