SLAVERY.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. First edition of one of the most consequential acts of legislation in world history, abolishing the slave trade within the British Empire. This copy is a well-preserved example of the separate folio printing. From 1807, enslaved persons could no longer be bought or sold within the British Empire, while the Royal Navy was empowered to target vessels engaged in slave transportation, a task it took up with vigour.Parliamentary acts were issued in collected annual volumes and as individual pamphlets, all printed from the same type. As King's Printers, Eyre & Strahan held the exclusive rights to publish and sell parliamentary statutes, and this pamphlet would have been among those sold at their offices near Fleet Street.

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