Bryan Edwards, ‘The history, civil and commercial, of the British colonies in the West Indies’, (1807-1819)

Bryan Edwards (1743-1800) was a British born politician, who lived much of his life in Jamaica, where he owned a number of plantations. It is estimated that his labour force consisted of around 1,500 slaves. The history, civil and commercial, of the British colonies in the West Indies described not only the history of the Caribbean but also Edwards’ understanding of Caribbean societies, together with his reflections on the system of slavery. As such it is an important text for the study of colonialism and the evils of the Slave Trade.

This accompanying volume of plates contains a number of important images, including Thomas Stothard’s ‘The Voyage of the Sable Venus from Angola to the West Indies’, which, in total neglect of the horrors of the middle passage, depicts an African woman in the pose of Boticelli’s Venus, being towed to the Americas by dolphins.

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