Letter by 18th-Century Slave Fetches Record Price
New York Times
By BEN SISARIO
Published: November 24, 2005
“A signed letter dated Feb. 14, 1776, by Phillis Wheatley, a Boston slave and the author of the first book of poetry published by an African-American, fetched a record-setting $253,000 at auction on Tuesday. That price, which includes a 15 percent commission, was the highest ever paid at auction for a letter written by an African-American, and appears to have set an auction record for a letter written by a woman, said Jeremy Markowitz, an autograph specialist at Swann Galleries in New York, which sold it.”
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