Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African

'In short, I write just what I think.' After a successful career in the service of an aristocratic family, Charles Ignatius Sancho (c.1729-1780) established a successful grocery business in Westminster, and had six children, three of whom survived to adulthood. Charming, playful, and thoughtful, Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African provides an unequalled portrait of the everyday life of a Black family in eighteenth-century London. The 161 extant letters reveal a man intimately engaged in a range of eighteenth-century discourses and contexts, as a man of letters, a committed Christian, and a generous philanthropist. Published posthumously in 1782, the volume was an immediate success. Sancho's sentimental epistolary skills were highly regarded, especially for their considered emulation of the Shandean style of Laurence Sterne. Sancho also developed an important commentary on European discourses of race and slavery, topics to which the correspondence repeatedly returns. His writing and thinking--both the fact of its existence and its cultural sophistication--was important evidence for the Abolition campaign which emerged after his death. Newly edited from the first edition of the Letters, Nicole Aljoe, Markman Ellis, and Oliver Ayers provide new information about Sancho and his family in an introduction and detailed notes. Appendices present biographical notes on his principal correspondents and a summary of the contemporary response. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.