Celebrating the Bible in Black History

Phillis Wheatley, “Recollection,” in The Annual Register

By: Phillis Wheatley

Collection ID

PBK.003105

Type

Printed Book

Date

1772/1773

Geography

England

Language

English

Medium

Printed on Paper

Dimensions

8.5 × 5.5 × 1.5 in. (21.6 × 14 × 3.8 cm)

Exhibit Location

Not on View

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American woman to publish a collection of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was enslaved as a child and brought to Boston in 1761. She quickly learned to read and write, immersing herself in the Bible, as well as works of history, literature, and philosophy. In 1770, she published an elegy on the revivalist George Whitefield that garnered international acclaim. Biblical themes would continue to feature prominently in her work. In 1773, she published a collection of poems titled, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. This collection included her poem “On Recollection,” which appeared months earlier in The Annual Register here. Wheatley and her work served as a powerful symbol in the fight for both racial and gender equality in early America and helped fuel the growing antislavery movement.

Printed in 1773 by James Dodsley, London, England. Acquired by J. H. Burton, unknown owner.[1] Acquired by the 2000s by Bickerstaff’s Books, Maps, booksellers, Maine; Purchased in the 2000s by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Kentucky; Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] Burton’s name is inscribed on the front pastedown.

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