Raynor HCA 2014-01
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/30/2014
Exceeding rare broadside, printed in Boston, Ma., ca. 1824. One of several racist parodies of black American illiteracy, dialect, and manners issued in Boston at various times between 1819 and 1832. The broadside is in the form of burlesque reports and letters relating to the annual July 14 celebrations, among Boston's black residents, of the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. (The American slave trade was actually abolished on January 1, 1808, but was celebrated in July by many American blacks for some time). The "Reply to Bobalition" text comprises a dialogue between "Ceaser Catchem and Cuffee Crookshank" , occasioned by reading the account of Bobalition proceedings. In New York, the commemorations stopped in 1815, but in Boston, they lasted until 1830. Each year, two to three hundred black Bostonians would march in procession, valiantly braving furious white mobs that harassed, insulted, and made fun of them. But not everyone in the black community was in favor of these rallies. Some leaders, such as Absalom Jones, were opposed to what they saw as useless confrontations. Hostile whites not only ridiculed African Americans on the streets as they marched but also cruelly caricatured their dress, language, and manners, and printed these types of Anti-Black broadsides. The piece measures 10 ½" x 15 ½", and is fine condition with just some light age and a 1" split at the right edge. This is the first example of this Scarce African American broadside we have handled.
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