Anna Maria Falconbridge: Narrative of Two Voyages to the River Sierra Leone during the Years 1791-1792-1793 FROM THE PUBLISHER
In 1791 Anna Maria Falconbridge left England to travel to Sierra Leone with her husband, Alexander Falconbridge who was an ardent activist in the campaign to abolish the slave trade. He went as an employee of the Sierra Leone Company to prepare for the establishment of a settlement of freed slaves. On this trip and a subsequent trip, Anna Maria wrote a series of lively letters to a friend describing her experiences, African life and customs which she later published as this Narrative.
She did not share her husbands views on abolition, and by the time of his death from alchohol on the second voyage they were estranged. She quickly remarried a man more sympathetic to her opinions and herself. Disgusted by the incompetence and, as they saw it, sanctimonious self-righteousness of the Sierra Leone Company and the abolitionist movement, Anna Maria and her new husband went home on board a slave ship. Back in London she published her Narrative along with an outspoken denunciation of the Company.
Providing a sharp contrast to Anna Maria's views, is Alexander Falconbridge's Account of the Slave Trade, which is included as an appendix in this edition of the Narrative. The Account is based upon Alexander's own experiences as a surgeon on board slave ships, and it describes the horrific conditions of the slave trade. Appearing originally in 1788, Account of the Slave Trade was the first published piece of literature promoting the abolitionist cause.
SYNOPSIS
Presents an annotated narrative of Falconbridge's voyages to the River Sierra Leone during the years 1791-1793, accompanied by a brief, critical account of the slave trade by her physician husband Alexander Falconbridge, who played a significant rolewith Anna Maria Falconbridgein the campaign to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
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