Wilberforce, William (1759-1833) Autograph letter on the slave trade, signed, Kensington Gore, 'To Captn Edw[ar]d Scobell RN, This book is presented as a mark of friendly esteem & regard & as a grateful acknowledgement of his zealous & spirited services in suppressing the slave trade in Africa, by his oblig'd friend W Wilberforce', in brown ink on single sheet of wove paper, 16.5 x 12.5 cm, tipped to card album leaf, adhesive staining on verso, concomitant darkening and a few spots on recto, unevenly cropped in top margin not affecting text, but with small chip at head causing partial loss of postnominal 'RN', lower right-hand corner torn away from main letter by adhesion to album leaf to no loss of text

Note: Edward Scobell (1784-1825) saw action in the invasion of Guadeloupe (1810) before serving on the West Africa station from 1811 to 1813 as commander of HMS Thais, notably capturing the American privateer brig Rambler.