NARRATIVE OF A FIVE YEARS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE REVOLTED NEGROES OF SURINAM 1806 STEDMAN

[STEDMAN, Capt. J. G.]. Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition Against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam in Guiana on the Wild Coast of South America; from the Years 1772 to 1777: Elucidating the History of that Country and Describing its Productions, viz. Quadrupedes, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Trees, Shrubs, Fruits, & Roots; with an Account of the Indians of Guiana, & Negroes of Guinea. London: Printed for J. Johnson, St Paul's Church Yard & Th. Payne, Pall Mall, 1806.

Second edition. In two volumes. Leather-bound. Hardcover. Quarto (270 x 220mm.). Pp. xviii, 423, [3 index], [1 directions for plates]; iv, 419, [4 index], [1 directions for plates]. English text. Handsomely bound in later half-calf. Dedication, list of subscribers, engraved titles with vignettes, engraved frontispiece to volume 1, a total of 81 plates and maps (by William Blake, Barlozzi and others), subscribers list to volume 1, directions to the binder and errata leaves to rear of each volume. Condition: GOOD. Collated complete. Bindings tight and secure. Covers beautifully preserved. Interiors largely well-preserved, some light toning and marginal staining mostly noticeable to title-page and frontispiece, couple of minor edge repairs. Very faint old library stamp on the title page of volume 1. Scarce complete set.

Notes: Rare second edition - ‘One of the most detailed descriptions ever written of an eighteenth-century slave plantation society’ (ODNB). The plates, based on drawings made by Stedman whilst in Surinam, were reproduced by various engravers, including William Blake who was responsible for sixteen. Stedman served in the Scots Brigade; a regiment of mercenary troops that had been established by the Netherlands to help protect its constitutional interests. In 1772, he volunteered to accompany the expedition sent by the States-General to subdue the insurgents in Dutch Guiana. However, the book takes a strong anti-slavery stance (as witnessed by the involvement of the progressive William Blake). "In 1772 [Stedman] volunteered to accompany an expedition sent out by the States-General to subdue the revolted Negroes in Surinam, or Dutch Guiana... The field of his curiosity embraced not only all branches of natural history, but also economical and social conditions. His description of the cruelties practiced on the Negroes, and of the moral deterioration resulting to their masters, forms one of the most vivid indictments of slavery that have been penned" (ODNB). It has been suggested that Stedman's work may have contributed towards William Blake's strong opposition to slavery. [Abbey, Travel 719; Sabin 91075].