The illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages are among the greatest works of European art and literature. We are dazzled by them and recognize their crucial role in the transmission of knowledge. But we generally think much less about the countless men and women who made, collected and preserved them through the centuries, and to […]

This talk will introduce Edward Long, whose History of Jamaica published in 1774 (and in print ever since) aimed to convince a metropolitan audience that slavery was essential to the wealth of Britain and that black people were naturally born to serve those who were white. Long’s account of Jamaica provides an extraordinarily detailed picture […]

The South Sea Company is famous for giving its name to an early financial crash, the South Sea Bubble of 1720. This event has overshadowed the company’s involvement in Britain’s transatlantic slave trade. In popular histories, the importance of the company’s trading arm has been downplayed in order to highlight the supposed foolishness of investors. […]