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Manuscripts
Thomas Clarkson letter to Henry Clarke Wright, approximately 1846
1 of 12
- Description
- An autobiographical autograph letter written by Thomas Clarkson to "Dear Sir;" the letter is entitled "Extraordinary Phenomenon in the Origin of the Abolition of the Slave Trade as it relates to myself." Though the letter is addressed to "Dear Sir" there is strong evidence it was written to Henry Clarke Wright, American abolitionist. The letter recounts Clarkson's sixty year's crusade against enslavement: his efforts to end the trade of enslaved persons in Great Britain, the foundation of The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and his work with William Wilberforce. The letter is mounted on paper, with some slight staining and a crossed-out pencil profile portrait on recto of the blank leaf; also enclosed is a typewritten transcription of the letter.
- Date
- approximately 1846
- Call number
- mssHM 84410
- Provenance
- Purchased from Maggs Bros. Ltd., January 2025. The letter was part of an album containing 120 autograph letters, which was sold at Bonhams in November 2024 and purchased by a British book dealer; the Clarkson letter was offered to Maggs Bros. Ltd individually. The album originally belonged to Randall Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, archbishop of Canterbury, and via his widow was given to Captain George Sitwell Campbell Swinton and remained in the Swinton family of Kimmerghame until it was consigned to Bonhams. It seems likely that the Clarkson letter, addressed to Henry Clarke Wright, who was in Scotland when he corresponded with Clarkson, never made it back to America, as he intended, but instead remained in Scotland where it was bound in the album.
- Restrictions
- Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Rights
- The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.
- Associated people
- Wright, Henry Clarke, (1797-1870.)
