Item #18670 Poems, on Various Subjects, Religious, Moral, Sentimental and Humorous . . . to which is added, A Brief Sketch of the Author’s Life, and of his Captivity and Sufferings among the Turks and Barbarians of Tripoli, on the Coast of Africa—written by Himself. William Ray.
Poems, on Various Subjects, Religious, Moral, Sentimental and Humorous . . . to which is added, A Brief Sketch of the Author’s Life, and of his Captivity and Sufferings among the Turks and Barbarians of Tripoli, on the Coast of Africa—written by Himself.

Poems, on Various Subjects, Religious, Moral, Sentimental and Humorous . . . to which is added, A Brief Sketch of the Author’s Life, and of his Captivity and Sufferings among the Turks and Barbarians of Tripoli, on the Coast of Africa—written by Himself.

Auburn: Printed by U. F. Doubleday, 1821. First edition. 12mo, original calf, red leather spine label, gilt lettering, 254, [1] pages. One gathering a little sprung, rear hinge just a trifle weak; some light rubbing and bumping; some foxing and a bit of staining; a very good copy. Item #18670

Disappointed in 1803 in an editorship and having exhausted his resources in traveling to Philadelphia to take the prospective job, Ray “in a paroxysm of half despair and half insanity, I entered on board the ill-fated U. S. frigate Philadelphia, then lying in the Delaware, in a low capacity, without either inquiring or caring where she was bound.” The Philadelphia ran aground off Tripoli later in 1803 during the First Barbary War, and Ray and the rest of the crew were enslaved. Ray, who had lived in Onondaga Courthouse, N. Y. since 1816, is an entertaining and accomplished poet. (He includes a number of favorable critical notices.) His verses include several carriers addresses (including anti-slavery themes) and at least one that calls for women’s rights. Bold contemporary ink ownership signature of G. Wells to the front free endpaper. Sabin 68035.

Price: $125.00

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