Negersklaven Aufenthalt im Schiffsraum

Rare first German edition of the famous Rugendas engraving, showing enslaved Africans in the hold of a ship. It represents the harsh reality of the slave trade, with its victims chained and stacked in a crowded space; an African tries to obtain drink through the hatch and a corpse is being removed by sailors. The engraving was presented in 1827 at the Paris Salon, where it provoked intense debate. The crude and realistic image of human suffering shocked many viewers and helped to place slavery and abolitionism at the centre of the intellectual and political debates. It also raised questions about the representation of the