The Cambridge Companion to Ignatius Sancho

An authoritative archive showing the interdisciplinary significance of Sancho's testimonies as a Black man in eighteenth-century London.

One of the largest archives of writing by an eighteenth-century Black individual, this volume – the first of its kind on Sancho and his written output – not only situates the letters within their social and historical contexts but also highlights their cultural and aesthetic significance.One of the largest archives of writing by an eighteenth-century Black individual, this volume not only connects the letters of Ignatius Sancho to their social and historical contexts but also highlights their cultural and aesthetic significance. Offering an interdisciplinary range of perspectives on Sancho and his letters from across literary, historical, and cultural studies, and authored by scholars, archivists, and performers alike, it provides the first authoritative, accessible resource focused exclusively on Sancho's life and writing. Building on established connections to abolitionism and the aesthetics of sentiment, it breaks new ground by considering Sancho's continuing significance for Black British society specifically, and UK literature and history generally.