The Slave Poet From Boston Collected Writings On Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753–1784) was an American freed slave and poet who wrote the first book of poetry by an African-American. Sold into slavery in West Africa at the age of around seven, she was taken to North America, where she served the Wheatley family of Boston. Phillis was tutored in reading and writing by Mary, the Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, and was reading Latin and Greek classics from the age of twelve. Encouraged by the progressive Wheatleys who recognised her incredible literary talent, she wrote "To the University of Cambridge" when she was 14. By 20 had found patronage in Selina Hastings, countess of Huntingdon. Her works garnered acclaim in both England and the colonies, and she became the first African American to make a living as a poet. This volume contains a fantastic collection of assorted writings by various authors on the subject of Wheatley, exploring her interesting life and influential work. Contents include: "Introduction from Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, 1834", "Letter from George Washington to Phillis", "An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley by Jupiter Hammon", "A Memoir from Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, 1834", "Phillis Wheatley by William Wells Brown", "Phillis Wheatley by L. Maria Child", "Phillis Wheatley by A. Mott And M. S. Wood", "An Excerpt by George Washington Williams", "Phillis Wheatley by Benjamin Griffith Brawley", "Jupiter Hammon and Phillis Wheatley by Robert Thomas Kerlin", etc. Brilliant Women are proudly publishing this brand new collection of classic essays and excerpts for a new generation of readers.

Rev. ed. of: Memoir and poems of Phillis Wheatley, a native African and a slave.

The extraordinary writings of Phillis Wheatley, a slave girl turned published poet In 1761, a young girl arrived in Boston on a slave ship, sold to the Wheatley family, and given the name Phillis Wheatley. Struck by Phillis' extraordinary precociousness, the Wheatleys provided her with an education that was unusual for a woman of the time and astonishing for a slave. After studying English and classical literature, geography, the Bible, and Latin, Phillis published her first poem in 1767 at the age of 14, winning much public attention and considerable fame. When Boston publishers who doubted its authenticity rejected an initial collection of her poetry, Wheatley sailed to London in 1773 and found a publisher there for Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. This volume collects both Wheatley's letters and her poetry: hymns, elegies, translations, philosophical poems, tales, and epyllions--including a poignant plea to the Earl of Dartmouth urging freedom for America and comparing the country's condition to her own. With her contemplative elegies and her use of the poetic imagination to escape an unsatisfactory world, Wheatley anticipated the Romantic Movement of the following century. The appendices to this edition include poems of Wheatley's contemporary African-American poets: Lucy Terry, Jupiter Harmon, and Francis Williams. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

This is a biography of the African slave who was taken in and educated by a Boston couple and became well-known because of the poetry she wrote.

Carretta offers the first full-length biography of Phillis Wheatley (1753?-1784), who became the first English-speaking person of African descent to publish a book and only the second woman--of any race or background--to do so in America.

Poetess and freed slave Phillis Wheatley writes a poem celebrating General George Washington's leadership in the American Revolution, and is invited to his camp to meet the future president.