The History of Prince Lee Boo, to which is added, The Life of Paul Cuffee, a Man of Colour, Also, some account of John Sackhouse, the Esquimaux.

[Paul Cuffee]

Published by J. Jones, 40, South Great George’s Street, Dublin, 1822

About this Item

16°. 180 p. 4 wood-engraved plates included in pagination. Period full leather, back missing, hinges consequently weak, but holding at binding bands. Interior almost without foxing and in surprisingly good condition for a chapbook. - A very rare compilation of reports on people of color living in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries: Prince Lee Boo, Paul Cuffee and John Sackhouse. The account of Lee Boo?s life was first printed in the late 18th century and later reissued with additions. This issue is of particular interest due to the newly added section on Paul Cuffe. - Lee Boo, one of the first Pacific Islanders to visit Britain, was the second son of the ruler of Koror in Palau. He accompanied Captain Henry Wilson to London after the China trader Antelope was shipwrecked and the survivors spent 3 months on Palau. Lee Boo quickly became very popular in London, but died of smallpox six months after his arrival. The History of Prince Lee Boo is based on George Keate's Account of the Pelew Islands ; it appeared in several popular editions, all rare, since 1789. Paul Cuffe or Cuffee (derived from his father?s name Kofi) was an African American businessman and abolitionist born on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts, in 1759. His mother was a Wampanoag, his father an Ashanti manumitted from slavery. He became a whaler, blockade runner and, after the Revolutionary War, built up a successful shipping business. He became involved in the settlement scheme for freed American slaves in Sierra Leone and died in 1819. - John Sackhouse had come to London from Greenland as a stowaway on a whaler in 1816. He earned a living by showcasing his kayak and hunting skills in public displays organized by himself. He was taken to Edinburgh by the painter Alexander Nasmyth, who painted his portrait and taught drawing to him. He accompanied an expedition led by John Ross to the Arctic as an interpreter and, back in Edinburgh, died of typhoid fever in 1819, aged 22.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1781263145962

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The History of Prince Lee Boo, to which is added, The Life of Paul Cuffee, a Man of Colour, Also, some account of John Sackhouse, the Esquimaux.
• Publisher: J. Jones, 40, South Great George?s Street, Dublin
• Publication Date: 1822
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good