Snapshots of the Past

Slave sale, Charleston, S.C. – Antique Print

Slave sale, Charleston, S.C., 1856 — antique engraving
Slave sale, Charleston, S.C., 1856. Antique engraving from the Charleston collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This antique engraving of Slave sale, Charleston, S.C. brings a moment of history to your wall. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Slave sale, Charleston, S.C.

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Few images of the American slave trade reached British readers as directly as this engraving, which shows a sale of enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina, a major center of the domestic slave trade in the 1850s. It was made from a sketch by the English painter Eyre Crowe, who had toured the United States in 1852 and 1853 as secretary to the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. The *Illustrated London News* published the wood engraving in its November 29, 1856, issue, at a time when the international slave trade had long been banned but slavery within the United States was expanding. The print offers an outside observer's view of a public auction, though its details reflect both the artist's sketch and the engraver's hand.

Created / published1856
Medium1 print : wood engraving.
NotesFrom a sketch by Eyre Crowe. Illus. in: The Illustrated London News, 1856 Nov. 29. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: S.C.; African American Hist.; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,090 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-126558

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