Sonthonax on Rigaud and Toussaint-Louverture

RESERVED

Léger-Félicité Sonthonax (1763-1813).

Corps législatif. Conseil des Cinq-Cents. Discours prononcé par Sonthonax, sur la situation actuelle de Saint-Domingue, & sur les principaux événemens qui se sont passés dans cette île depuis la fin de floréal an 4, jusqu’en messidor de la 5 de la République.

[Colophon:] Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, An 6 [1798].

8°, 26 pp.

Modern marbled boards with red morocco and gold-tooled title label, marbled sides.

First edition, first state (of two) of a speech delivered in 1798 by Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, the delegate for the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), to the national legislature in Paris.
Sonthonax had been sent to the colony by the French government during the height of the Haitian Revolution and is best known for proclaiming the freedom of all enslaved people there in 1793—one of the earliest acts of abolition in the Atlantic world.
In this speech, he reports back on the political and military situation in the colony from spring 1796 to summer 1797, defending the French Republic’s authority and criticising local rivals who, he claims, were trying to set up a new racial hierarchy in place of the old. He focuses especially on General André Rigaud, a powerful leader of mixed African and European heritage in the southern part of the colony, accusing him of using violence and obstructing the government’s efforts to establish racial equality. By contrast, Toussaint Louverture is portrayed more favourably. The speech highlights the deep divisions within the revolutionary movement and Sonthonax’s role in trying to uphold the Republic’s vision of racial equality and civil rights.

Very rare.

Condition:

Paper slightly toned, otherwise in very good condition.

Reference:

Bissainthe, M. Dict. de bib. haïtienne, 8016.

Martin & Walter. Révolution française, 31844.

Sabin 87117.

For the states see JCB.