Description

Description: This circa 1845 offprint of The Anti-Slavery Bugle contains the poems, “The Branded Hand” by John Greenleaf Whittier and “Lines on reading of the Capture of certain Fugitive Slaves near Washington” by James Russell Lowell. Whittier’s poem was inspired by Captain Jonathan W. Walker, a Massachusetts-born abolitionist author, lecturer, and agitator. In 1844, bounty hunters captured Walker and the seven fugitive slaves he was sailing with on their way to freedom in the Bahamas. Walker was punished for “stealing slaves” by being branded with an “SS” on his hand and was imprisoned for a year. Lowell’s poem was similarly inspired by the capture of fugitive slaves.

The Anti-Slavery Bugle was an abolitionist newspaper published in Ohio from June 20, 1845, to May 4, 1861. The paper’s motto was “No Union with Slaveholders”.

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was one of the Fireside Poets, a group of popular 19th century New England-based poets who focused on domestic themes and moral messages. The group also included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Whittier is best remembered for his anti-slavery writings and his work as an abolitionist lobbyist.

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), as aforementioned, was a member of the Fireside Poets. Lowell believed that the poet played an important role as a prophet and critic of society and used his poetry to express his antislavery views and even took an editor position at an abolitionist newspaper. Lowell also taught languages at Harvard University for twenty years beginning in 1854 and became editor of The Atlantic Monthly in 1857.

This leaflet is “No. 9″ and has four pages (33 to 36). 8 7/8″ x 5 7/8”. Item #AM00338

Condition: Near fine condition.