PBA Galleries

32 pp. 22x13 cm (8¾x5¼:), original yellow printed wrappers.

John H. Van Evrie (1814–1896) was an American physician and defender of slavery, the author of several books on race and slavery which expounded the ideas of scientific racism for a popular audience. Van Evrie has been described as "perhaps the first professional racist in American history." 1853 was the first year of publication for this racist diatribe, but there were many different publishers and locations, with priority going to the edition published by Van Evrie, Horton & Co. The copyright date of the present edition is 1853, but there is a review on inside rear wrapper dated Jan. 20, 1854.

The pamphlet  carries the endorsement of Jefferson Davis and J. D. B. De Bow. Van Evrie argued that the pamphlet had made a "profound impression" due the "novelty" of its demonstration that truths about race had been "thrust out of sight by the mental dictation of the enemies of American institutions."