Lot 37: CHARLES HOWARD HODGES 1764-1837

PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (1759-1833)

PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (1759-1833)

various sizes

Mezzotint, after John Rising, 1792, with margins, in good condition; and a large collection of prints, the majority portraits of the same sitter, colonial scenes and other portraits, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, by or after various artists including Henry Robinson, Alexander Scott, James Watson, William Henry Worthington and William Say, some with light foxing, minor tears and creasing, surface dirt, slight paper discoloration, other minor defects

NOTE

William Wilberforce was one of the main instigators of the campaign to abolish slavery. Elected as MP for Hull in 1780, Wilberforce fought for social reform, including improving working conditions in factories. A deeply religious man, he became actively involved at the forefront of the fight to abolish slavery, making his first pro-abolition speech in 1789. After the initial defeat of his first anti-slavery reform bill of 1791, Wilberforce continued to lobby against the slave trade, finally succeeding in his quest in 1807.