Between the Covers

Newspaper. Large folio. 4pp. Original untrimmed copy with two gentle (horizontal and vertical) folds, fine. Contains a long article (over one full column measuring about 22½”) from *The New London Gazette*: "The Suspicious Looking Schooner, Captured," gives a detailed account of the *Amistad*, in which enslaved Africans on a Spanish ship rebelled and took control: “Much excitement has been created in New York for the past week, from the report of several pilot boats having seen a clipper built schooner off the Hook, full of negroes, and in such condition as to lead to the suspicion that she was a pirate … .”

The article goes on the give a current full account of the incident: “… The schooner proved to be the ‘Amistad,’ Captain Ramonflues, from the Havana, bound to Guanaja, Port Principe, with 54 blacks and two passengers on board; the former four nights after they were out rose and murdered the captain and three of the crew, they then took possession of the vessel with the intention of returning to the coast of Africa. Pedro Montes, passenger, and Jose Rues, owner of the slaves and part of the cargo, were only saved to navigate the vessel … .”

An historically important account of the *Amistad* incident, which documents how the event was viewed by Connecticut journalists and residents, and their sympathetic view of the leader of the revolt: “On board the brig we also saw Cinques, the master spirit and hero of this bloody tragedy, in irons … He is said to be a match for any two men on board the schooner. His countenance, for a native African, is unusually intelligent … .”.

Item #463394