this week in links

[sea_changed]

Only a few scattered links today, I'm afraid, but all to things I'm very excited about.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton, by Sara Collins, sounds potentially really interesting--1820s, a Jamaican woman in is put on trial in London for the murder of her master and mistress (I think--the official summary calls her their maid with no further qualification, but if it's in Jamaica I'm thinking she's enslaved, or was?). The official summary is somewhat muddled and potentially leads in not-great directions, but I'm thinking (hoping) that's the publisher's fault, and it sounds like it has great potential. I've linked to the UK version, as it has a nicer cover--the US version will be released May 21.

Also, have y'all heard about the Peterloo movie? I didn't even realize it was already out in the UK, but us Americans have to wait until April 5. The trailer isn't stunning, but obviously I'm very into the history around it.

And lastly, Sotheby's had a huge auction of quote-unquote "Important Americana" recently, and the online catalog (actually catalogs--one part is here and the other part is here) is amazing. I've only really looked through the paintings so far, but there's some really wonderful and fascinating stuff, like this 1694 portrait of a little girl from Boston (which is in some ways intriguingly reminiscent of this portrait of a little girl from New York, over 30 years later--love the whole striped-dress theme). Or this c. 1820 painting, entitled "Portrait of a Black Gentleman Lifting a Glass of Wine."

Comments

[fosfomifira]

Apparently the British Library's 'obscene collection' is now online.

I’ve heard of the Peterloo movie. I wish it had a local release date, though I fear there won’t be one.

I love seeing daily life artifacts, even more than the bigger works of art. It feels more intimate, in a way. Should look into that catalog.

[sea_changed]

AMAZING. Thank you so much for linking me, this looks hysterical and fascinating.

Me too, re: artifacts of daily life. Something smaller and more frequently used makes it feel like you understand something, even if it’s just a small something, about a person’s life in the past.

[oursin]

The slave trade had been abolished in 1807 and slavery was illegal on British soil. However it was still legal in most other parts of the British Empire. The West Indies were particularly notorious and the focus of campaigns such as the sugar boycott.

[sea_changed]

Yep, exactly. It’s unclear to me when reading the summary whether the protagonist had lived in Jamaica and was in London for trial, or whether she was Jamaican originally but was living and working in London—which would obviously have significant effect on her legal status.

[oursin]

I suspect that just bringing her to London for trial, rather than trying her in the courts in Jamaica - if slaves even had the benefit of trial rather than summary execution - would have had a significant impact on her legal status, and I can't quite imagine the circumstances in which this would happen at the period. Not to mention, that if the trial took place in England it would be a focus for anti-slavery campaigners' agitation, probably with abolitionist lawyers falling over themselves to take on the case pro bono.