Queens' and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
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The belief that British colonialism and African enslavement in the Americas were divinely ordained proved enduring as a doctrine supported by Anglican scholars, many of whom supported the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) as subscribers.
There is a large amount of SPG-sponsored literature in Queens’ Old Library, much of it bequeathed by Queens’ Vice President, David Hughes (d.1777), including sermons and reports from the society. This report, from 1741, includes a catalogue of the SPG’s ‘Missionaries’ Library’, which was created to serve and inform missionaries and colonial agents before their journeys across the Atlantic.
The contents of the SPG's 'Missionaries' Library, which overlap heavily with Queens’ own collections incorporates both secular and religious texts, including settlers’ narratives, mariners’ accounts, dictionaries of indigenous languages, and partial justifications for the institutions of slavery. This report also details the SPG’s subscribers, missionaries, and supporters, including many members of Queens’ College. The financial records contained within this report also demonstrate the society’s significant investment in the South Sea Company, which held key monopolies in the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Title: A collection of papers printed by order of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (London, 1741)
Shelfmark: P.20(1)
Provenance: Bequest of David Hughes (Queens’ m. 1722).
