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two old books sitting on top of each other on a white surfacean old black and white drawing of a woman handing something to a group of peoplean old book with a picture of a woman holding a child
Ader

14 - FROSSARD (Benjamin-Sigismond).
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Estimate €800 - €1,200
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Description
FROSSARD (Benjamin-Sigismond). The Cause of the Black Slaves and the Inhabitants of Guinea, Brought before the Tribunal of Justice, Religion and Politics; or A History of the Slave Trade and the Enslavement of Black People, Evidence of their illegitimacy, and Ways to Abolish them without Harming either the Colonies or the Colonists. Lyon: printed by Aimé de La Roche, 1789. — 2 volumes, 8vo, 197 x 124: frontispiece, (1 f.), v, 367 pp.; (1 fol.), vii, 403 pp., (2 fol.). Marbled sheepskin, plain decorated spine, red edges (contemporary binding). A rare first edition of the abolitionist work by Benjamin-Sigismond Frossard (1754–1830), a pastor and professor at the Faculty of Protestant Theology, first in Paris and later in Montauban. It is regarded as one of the first major abolitionist texts in French from the 18th century. It was during a trip to England in 1784–1785 that the author met key figures in the British abolitionist movement, such as Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp. He visited slave ships and gathered first-hand accounts, which strengthened his commitment to the cause. Frossard advocated for gradual emancipation, arguing that slaves, once free, would be more productive and that their improved circumstances would boost population growth, thereby benefiting the colonial economy. He proposed compensating slave-owners for their losses, in order to facilitate acceptance of abolition. For him, abolition was above all a struggle between vice and virtue. He considered that freeing slaves meant ‘ensuring the triumph of good over evil’ and conforming to the divine will. He also emphasised the need to publicly denounce the slave trade as an abomination and an act of barbarism, so that its supporters would be socially ostracised. The edition is illustrated with a beautiful frontispiece captioned ‘Be Free and Citizens’, engraved by Charles-Ange Boily after a drawing by Pierre Rouvier. A copy belonging to Denis Jean-Marie Lemoine de La Giraudais (1739–1814), a deputy for Brittany in the Constituent National Assembly. The leather binding is worn, and the headband of the first volume has been torn off. Provenance: Denis Jean-Marie Lemoine de La Giraudais, with bookplate and signature on the title pages. – Philippe Zoummeroff (auction 9 December 2016, lot 143).
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About the sale Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time 10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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