Strictures On A Life Of William Wilberforce. By The Rev. W. Wilberforce, And The Rev. S. Wilberforce. With A Correspondence Between Lord Brougham And Mr. Clarkson; Also A Supplement, Containing Remarks On The Edinburgh Review Of Mr. Wilberforce's Life, Etc. Clarkson, Thomas.

First edition, presentation copy, inscribed in a secretarial hand "from the author" on the front free endpaper. This copy is from the personal library of Edward Law, first Earl of Ellenborough (1790-1871), Lord Privy Seal, Governor-General of India, and a supporter of abolition. Wordsworth, who had written a sonnet to Clarkson on the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, remarked that the Strictures was "scarcely less than wonderful, and the candour with which he admits the imperfections and deficiencies of his book, must endear him still more to his friends, and to the sound-hearted portion of the community" (quoted in Wilson, p. 173). Clarkson was, along with Wilberforce, the key publicist of the English abolitionist movement. His informal committee for lobbying MPs in credited with recruiting Wilberforce to the anti-slavery cause in 1787: the two men would work together for over 40 years. His expeditions across British ports (covering over 35,000 miles) provided the research and popular awareness on which much subsequent abolitionist campaigning, including Wilberforce's parliamentary programme, was based. Here, Clarkson defends his abolitionist record against Wilberforce's sons, who had claimed in their 1838 biography of their father that Clarkson had profited financially from his campaigning. Provenance: Edward Law, first Earl of Ellenborough, with the Ellenborough heirlooms ink stamp on the front pastedown. During his governorship of India, Law supported his colleague Wilberforce Bird in prohibiting slavery within the colony. Hogg 4016. Ellen Gibson Wilson, Thomas Clarkson: A Biography, 1990. Octavo. Original grey boards, printed paper label, edges uncut. With 16 pp. of publisher's advertisements at front. Light bumping and wear, cosmetic splits to joints, holding firm, abrasion to label, touching text, minor browning and foxing to endpapers and contents: a very good copy.