Poems by a Slave [juan F. M., I.e. Juan Francisco Manzano] in the Island of Cuba, Recently Liberated; Translated from the Spanish, by R. R. Madden, M.

Publisher Marketing: Title: Poems by a Slave [Juan F. M., i.e. Juan Francisco Manzano] in the Island of Cuba, recently liberated; translated from the Spanish, by R. R. Madden, M. D. With the history of the early life of the negro poet, written by himself; to which are prefixed two pieces descriptive of Cuban slavery and the slave traffic, by R. R. M. [i.e. R. R. Madden.]Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC. The POETRY & DRAMA collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The books reflect the complex and changing role of literature in society, ranging from Bardic poetry to Victorian verse. Containing many classic works from important dramatists and poets, this collection has something for every lover of the stage and verse. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Manzano, Juan Francisco; Madden, Richard Robert 1840 188 p.; 8 . 11643.c.27. Contributor Bio:  Manzano, Juan Francisco Juan Francisco Manzano (1797-...). Cuba. En algun dia del mes de agosto de 1797 nacio, esclavo, el primer hombre de piel negra que leyo en publico en Cuba sus propios poemas. Se trataba del soneto Mis treinta anos, leido en la tertulia de Domingo del Monte en 1836 y publicado un ano despues. El poeta tenia cuarenta anos y cierta fama lo habia precedido en aquella incursion. Quince anos atras habia publicado con licencia de sus amos, Cantos a Lesbia en 1821 y luego, en 1830, Flores Pasageras (sic), de los cuales no se conserva ni un solo ejemplar. De aquella lectura y del interes de Del Monte surgio la idea de recaudar los 850 pesos que exigio la duena para comprar la libertad de Manzano, de modo que en 1837 era ya libre cuando fueron publicados en El aguinaldo habanero los sonetos A la ciudad de Matanzas y Mis treinta anos. De aquella lectura del ano 1836 salio tambien la proposicion de Del Monte para que el esclavo escribiera su autobiografia. Su primera parte fue publicada primero en ingles gracias al interes de Richard R. Madden, quien tradujo una copia corregida por Anselmo Suarez y Romero. Solo mucho despues aparecio la version original. La segunda parte de la Autobiografia de Manzano se perdio.