Between the Covers

Unbound. Manuscript poem. Four pages on a single folded purple octavo leaf, watermarked "Turkey Mill 1861." Measuring approximately 9" x 7". Old neat folds from mailing, with slight toning at the folds, very good or better. Original envelope present, unpostmarked and thus apparently transmitted by hand, addressed to Mr. J. Pope, with a note inside the envelope flap reading: "With Marie Sibree's compliments." Marie Sibree (1839-1885) was an English author who wrote under a number of variations of her name, including Marie Sibree Hall; perhaps her most popular book was the historical novel *Andrew Marvel and His Friends: A Story of the Siege of Hull*.

This 64-line poem, is handwritten under the title "The Slave Reaching Canada," and is attributed or signed at the conclusion: "W. Howard Day, M.A. of Canada West. Written Hull. Jan. 7th 1862." The poem recounts the relief and joy of a slave freed upon their arrival in Canada, hailing freedom and liberty, and expressing gratitude to Canada, England, and the Queen, for the abolition of slavery in Great Britain.

Much biographical information appears about the remarkable William Howard Day, including a two-volume biography of his life; a few of the basics: Day was born free in New York City in 1825, to Eliza and John Day. Eliza was an escaped enslaved person, an abolitionist and a founding member of the first African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New York City, while John was a sail maker and veteran of the War of 1812, who died when William was four years old. Despite having meager funds, Eliza sent her children to private school and allowed a white educator to adopt Day in order to ensure his future education. Day began attending school when he was four years of age. In 1834, at the age of nine, Day joined with the youthful Henry Highland Garnet and David Ruggles to form the all-male Garrison Literary and Benevolent Association, named for the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

White abolitionist John Payson Williston and his wife of Northampton, Massachusetts, became Day's guardians in 1838 and ensured that Day received a liberal education, and also taught him printing skills, all while they maintained a stop on the Underground Railroad. Day attended Oberlin College, putting himself through college by working as a compositor and a printer, and graduated in 1847 with both a bachelor's and master's degree, the only Black graduate in the class of 50 students. He became editor of one of the first weekly African-American newspapers, *The Aliened American*, published in Cleveland, and also worked as a compositor for the *Cleveland True Democrat*, published by Thomas Brown.

Despite having been an active printer, the only non-newspaper publication that we could confirm appearing in his imprint was John Brown's *Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the People of the United States* (St. Catherine, Ontario: William Howard Day, 1858), a rare 16-page pamphlet that Day printed for Brown, that called for a new state in the Appalachian Mountains, likely near western Virginia, to be populated by volunteer freedom fighters and escaped slaves from plantations. The pamphlet was introduced into evidence at John Brown's trial as evidence of sedition.

In 1859, Day visited Great Britain to raise money for a church and school house in Buxton, Ontario. He met Martin Delany and Professor Campbell of the Institute for Colored Youth in London, and together the group founded the African Aid Society. He remained in Great Britain throughout the American Civil War.

We cannot confirm whether the poem is in Day's hand, or if it was circulated in fair copy by other hands to raise funds for Day's charitable goal. We could find no printed or manuscript copy of this poem.

While it is clear that Day was a respected and valued orator (he gave the Commencement Address for his class at Oberlin, delivered a speech in the Hall of Representatives of the Ohio General Assembly, becoming the first Black person to address that body, and presided over the Celebration of the Colored People's Educational Monument Association in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, on the Fourth of July, 1865, on the White House grounds). Day is far less known for his poetry, most of which was about the AME Zion Church. This poem is likely a unique example.

Selected excerpts from the poem are available on request.

Item #607070