Monrovia, Liberia: April 16, 1857. Autograph letter signed, 10 ½ x 8 ¼ inches. 4 pp. on bifolium, addressed to Benjamin Coates of Philadelphia. Black circular “Phila by Packet, May 29, paid,” additional manuscript postmark “Via England / Rev. ….. “. Fine condition. Item #List3742

A letter from Edward Wilmot Blyden, written at the beginning of the career that would make him one of the foundational figures of modern Pan-African thought, Black nationalism, and African intellectual history. Written from Monrovia in 1857, the letter captures Blyden finalizing a pamphlet titled “An Apology for the African Race,” almost certainly the work published that year as A Vindication of the African Race (Monrovia, 1857), one of Blyden’s earliest and rarest major publications and an important early defense of Black intellectual and historical dignity. Addressed to the Philadelphia abolitionist and colonization supporter Benjamin Coates, Blyden writes:

“Monrovia, April 16, 1857
Benjamin Coates Esqr.
Dear Sir,

“In reply to your kind and interesting letter dated Oct. 22, 1856, I wrote a lengthy epistle by way of England, which I hope you have received. I have nothing of special interest to state at present, I write merely to reiterate the requests I made in my last. I requested that you would send me some good printing paper, sufficient for the printing of about 300 copies of a pamphlet containing about 40 pages, also sufficient fancy colored paper for covering, for the payment of which I promised either to remit the money or send you a sufficient number of pamphlets. The pamphlets, ‘An Apology for the African Race’, is now completed; a want of paper is all that keeps it from the press. Rev. Mr. Crummell is preparing an introductory article for it. For want of means, I feel considerably cramped in my plans and efforts, but if I cannot do much for my race, I will write, and write and write, hoping that the God of wisdom and of power will direct my pen to the accomplishment of some good. I feel something of the resolution of Horace; Ego fungar vice cotis, acatum Reddese quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi Alunas et officium, nil agens ipse, docebo. Ars Poetica, 304th line.

“Pardon my substitution of the word ‘scribens’. If my forth-coming work be patronized sufficiently to encourage me, I shall endeavor next to prepare a History of Liberia from the declaration of Independence to the present.
Please send me by the earliest opportunity,
1 copy of Webster’s Official papers, while Secretary of State
" " " Anthon's Edition of Tacitus or Livy
" " " " Xenophon’s Anabasis
Key to Davies’ Elementary Algebra

“The Legislature is now assembled in Extra Session on the subject of Cape Palmas Annexation; application having been made by that State to be annexed to the Republic of Liberia. We are growing in numerical strength. I pray for a more rapid growth in moral and intellectual power; in agricultural and commercial imports; in national respectability and influence.

“Very respectfully yrs,
Edward W. Blyden”

Born in St. Thomas in 1832, Blyden had attempted to pursue theological education in the United States but was denied admission to multiple colleges due to his race, an experience that helped drive his eventual migration to Liberia in 1851. There, he emerged as one of the most important Black intellectuals of the nineteenth century: a writer, educator, diplomat, historian, and eventually one of the foundational theorists of what later scholars such as Kwame Nkrumah would call the “African Personality.”

His first major published work, A Vindication of the African Race directly challenged contemporary theories of Black inferiority, while Blyden’s later writings explored African self-government, education, religion, colonialism, and the historical destiny of the African diaspora. The present letter finds A Vindication almost to publication, and Blyden collaborating with abolitionist scholar and minister Alexander Crummell, seeking materials for both publication and study, contemplating a national history of Liberia, and articulating the literary mission that would define his life. We find no other examples of Blyden manuscripts in commerce or auction records, and the only comparable letters institutionally in Haverford’s Coates collection.

Price: $7,500.00