Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century [Paperback]

Vincent Carretta (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813190762 | ISBN-13: 978-0813190761 | Publication Date: December 1, 2003 | Edition: Expanded

Vincent Carretta has assembled the most comprehensive anthology ever published of writings by eighteenth-century people of African descent, capturing the surprisingly diverse experiences of blacks on both sides of the Atlantic--America, Britain, the West Indies, and Africa--between 1760 and 1798.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Many of us know of the poet Phillis Wheatley, the first black woman to publish a book in the Americas, but many of her contemporaries in America and in England remain obscure. This anthology, compiled by Vincent Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, goes a long way toward rectifying that omission. Here, Carretta collects the work of nearly 20 black writers from the late 1700s. Some, like Ignatius Sancho, a black Londoner who corresponded with important figures of his day such as the author Laurence Sterne, and Olaudah Equiano, an early black abolitionist who created the slave narrative, are well known. Others, like the poet Francis Williams, or Johnson Green, who served in the Revolutionary Army, and whose confession before his execution in 1786 for burglary is included here, are less so. This is an important collection but, while Carretta provides an introduction and footnotes, one wishes he had provided brief biographies for each of the contributors. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"An important work for gaining an understanding of a heretofore little examined aspect of the eighteenth century." -- Bloomsbury Review

"The selection of texts is diverse and wide-ranging.... The most comprehensive anthology on the subject and deserves to become the standard text for students in eighteenth-century studies and American studies." -- British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies

"Establishes the canon of Black diasporic authors writing in English in the 18th century and makes the texts accessible to scholars and students." -- East-Central Intelligencer

"Carretta has done eighteenth-century studies an immeasurable service.... The definitive anthology of black writing of the eighteenth-century African diaspora, serving the purpose of both introduction to and contestation of the overlapping fields of American, British, religious, and African studies." -- Eighteenth-Century Fiction

"Most challenging and exhaustive, both in quality and quantity of research, presentation, scope, and premise. Carretta seeks to validate what for him is an unbroken link of unshackled black literary voices." -- Eighteenth-Century Studies

"This is the most comprehensive collection of writings by people of African descent on both sides of the Atlantic more than 200 years ago." -- Lexington Herald-Leader

"An excellent anthology." -- Times Literary Supplement

"Cause for celebration.... Will no doubt contribute to the ongoing rethinking of the eighteenth-century canon." -- Year's Work in English Studies

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky; Expanded edition (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813190762
• ISBN-13: 978-0813190761
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #578,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scholarly Masterpiece, May 6, 2000

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"3ames" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century (Paperback)

Vincent Carretta's _Unchained Voices_ is a masterful anthology of black writers of the 18th century. This compilation--which includes well-known authors such as Phillis Wheatly and Olaudah Equiano, as well as more obscure writers like George Liele and Belinda--is invaluable to scholars of early American, African, and African-American literature. From criminals to Indian captives, the writers in Carretta's anthology illustrate the diversity of the African experience in the English-speaking world of the 18th century. Carretta's introduction and notes are brilliant, his attention to detail and tireless scholarship a model for other academics. While an excellent book for classroom use (I assign it in my survey courses of African-American literature), this anthology will also appeal to readers interested in beginnings of African-American literature.