Queens' members and the Slave Trade
Read More
In 1806 John Lane (Queens’ m. 1768) donated to Queens' the enormous multi-volume edition of Shakespeare’s Collected Works, revised by George Steevens and published by John and Josiah Boydell. Lavishly illustrated, these fashionable editions were produced as a showcase of British engravers and artists, and as a response to the revived fascination with Shakespeare in the late eighteenth-century.
The volumes’ donor, John Lane, received significant revenue from sugar plantations in Barbados, co-inherited from a distant cousin in 1794. The Seawell and Newton plantations were managed remotely by Lane’s brother, Thomas, and despite their relatively modest careers as lawyers, the profits of these plantations enabled the brothers to live lavishly. Domestic archives detail the purchase of fine wines, property, and assorted luxuries for their homes in England.
As absentee landlords, it is unlikely that Thomas or John ever visited Barbados in person, but correspondence reveals that they were well-aware of the day-to-day affairs of the estates. The Seawell and Newton plantations are unusually well-documented, revealing the brutal working conditions, disease, and cruel punishments endured by the enslaved. The presence of this book at Queens’ highlights links between enslavement and the culture of taste in Britain.
Author: William Shakespeare
Title: Collected Works (London, 1802)
Shelfmark: S.13.1-6
