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Primary sourceLetter1850 (book); letter date unknown

The Life of Silas Talbot, Containing a Letter from Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture (letter); Henry T. Tuckerman (book) · 1850 (book); letter date unknown

An 1850 biography of American naval officer Silas Talbot that reproduces a letter written by Toussaint Louverture.

Contains a letter written by Toussaint Louverture, preserved within a later biography of Silas Talbot.

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Title page of 'The Life of Silas Talbot, a Commodore in the Navy of the United States', by Henry T. Tuckerman, published New-York by J. C. Riker, 129 Fulton-Street, 1850. Blue Library of Congress oval stamp in lower right.
Henry T. Tuckerman, The Life of Silas Talbot, New York: J. C. Riker, 1850. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is a book titled 'The Life of Silas Talbot, a Commodore in the Navy of the United States,' written by Henry T. Tuckerman and published in New York in 1850. It includes, on pages 121 to 125, a letter written by Toussaint Louverture to Silas Talbot. The copy shown bears a Library of Congress stamp.

Why it matters

Although this book is a later biography of Talbot rather than Toussaint Louverture, it preserves one of his own letters within its pages. This shows how Toussaint Louverture, as leader of the Haitian Revolution, communicated with figures abroad, including American naval officers, and how such letters survive embedded in later published works about other people.

Look closer

  • Why might a letter from Toussaint Louverture be preserved inside a biography of a different person, Silas Talbot?
  • What does the existence of this correspondence suggest about Toussaint Louverture's relationships beyond Haiti?
  • What questions would you want answered about the original letter that this book does not tell us?

This letter is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Toussaint Louverture on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Book cover in green, pink, red, blue, black and orange marbled paper with a black spine on the left. A white label at top left shows handwritten call numbers 'Lk 554' and 'g°'. Text at bottom reads 'Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France'.Document

Primary source

Constitution républicaine des colonies française de Saint-Domaingue

Toussaint Louverture · 1801

Title page of a book, a scan of a yellowed printed page reading 'Mémoires du Général Toussaint-L'Ouverture, écrits par lui-même', with a publisher's ornament and 'Paris, Pagnerre, Libraire-Éditeur, 1853' at the bottom. The book is attributed to Saint-Remy, not handwritten manuscript.Book

Primary source

Mémoires du Général Toussaint-L'Ouverture écrits par lui-même

Toussaint Louverture · 1853 (text written 1802)

Painted portrait of a man in a dark-blue and red military uniform with gold epaulettes, a white sash with gold stars, and white trousers. He holds a folded paper in his right hand and stands before a stormy blue sky and dark mountains, with a sword hilt visible at his left side.Painting

Secondary source

Général Toussaint Louverture

19th century

Sepia-toned engraving of a standing man in a black top hat with a tall plume, a dark military-style coat with chevron-patterned sleeves, and a sash at the waist. He holds a folded paper in one hand and a curved sabre in the other. Behind him are a fortified hillside, a small building on top, palm trees, and a second figure in uniform with a plumed hat.Painting

Secondary source

19th century engraving of L'Ouverture

J. Barlow, after a sketch by Marcus Rainsford · 19th century

Sepia engraving of a scene in a tropical landscape: a tall officer in a plumed hat and uniform stands center, receiving a letter from a man in a long coat at right, while a woman in a long dress, children, and other figures gather around, with palm fronds and trees behind.Painting

Secondary source

Toussaint Louverture reçoit une lettre du Premier Consul

Charles Monnet · 1802

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