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Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
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[ This description is from the project: MHS 225th Anniversary ]
Poems on Various Subjects, published in London in 1773, was the first book of poetry by a black American. Author Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa, brought to Boston in 1761 on the slave ship Phillis, and sold to the Wheatley family. Freed in 1773, she died in obscurity and poverty 11 years later.