Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an AfricanPenguin, 1998 - Počet stran: 336 Born on a slave ship enroute to the West Indies, orphaned by the age of two and taken to England by his owner, Ignatius Sancho rose from servitude to include among his friends noted artists, writers, actors, and prominent politicians. Sancho first gained celebrity when one of his letters appeared in the novelist Laurence Sterne's Letters (1775) and, inspired by the editor's desire to show "that an untutored African may possess abilities equal to a European", two volumes of Sancho's letters were published shortly after his death. The literary quality and the historical importance of the letters endure, revealing a man of sensitivity, intellect, and charm, while also presenting an unusual chronicle of the times. Sancho offers young men fatherly advice on their futures; writes flirtatiously to young women; relates the joys and sorrows of family life; swaps literary jokes; and comments perceptively on the issues of the day. His thoughts on race and politics -- including his criticism of British imperialism in India, the complicity of Africans in the slave trade, and the blatant racism that flourishes in his adopted homeland -- will be of particular interest to twentieth-century readers. While some letters may have been abridged because of the original editor's concerns about public sensitivities, they remain a powerful testament to the injustices of racial discrimination. |
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... Montagu , who frequently took him home and introduced him to reading . When the duke died in 1749 , Sancho fled from the sisters and sought refuge in the household of the duke's widow , even- tually becoming the valet of the duchess's ...
... Montagu took an active interest in the intellectual abilities of Blacks . During the 1730s he played a major role in redeeming from slavery and repatriating to Africa Job Ben Sol- omon , a learned Muslim . Solomon's story became widely ...
... Montagu family was one of the relatively rare instances in which the theory of the ideal master - servant relationship coincided with actual practice . Ide- ally , the relationship was one of mutual obligation and con- sideration , in ...
... Montagu's valet , the duke helped Sancho and his wife , Anne , whom he had married in 1758 , establish a grocery shop in early 1774 at 19 Charles Street , next to their new residence at 20 Charles Street in Westminster , near Parliament ...
... Montagu's service , in- cluding the earliest , his 21 July 1766 letter to Laurence Sterne , the famous author of Tristram Shandy ( 1759-1767 ) . In his letter , Sancho tells Sterne that " My chief pleasure has been books , " and his ...