STUART, James 19 Letters written from the Demerara Estate to John and Robertson Gladstone Demerera, 1840 £800 A collection of 19 handwritten letters, many duplicates, some original, all in the hand of James Stuart, in both ink pen and pencil, together with his signature to the bottom of each piece, sent to John and Robertson Gladstone between January and December 1840; on a variety of paper stocks; folded multiple times for sending; the remnants of the wax seals visible to many of the versos (with some offsetting to page), and addressed to the recipients in Liverpool; the letters themselves with occasional finger tears, marginal ink staining, tears along folds and the odd hole/chip, likely contemporary, caused by the opening of the letters and generally not affecting the text; marginal toning in accordance with age; a very good collection. John and Robertson Gladstone were the sons of Sir John Gladstone (1764-1851), a slave owner who had purchased a series of plantations across the West Indies. In 1823, after enduring years of brutal oppression, an uprising involving between 9,000 and 12,000 slaves took place on one of Gladstone’s plantations. The Demerara Rebellion later became known as one of greatest slave rebellions in history, and eventually led to the abolition of slavery in Guyana, though Gladstone shamefully continued to profit, receiving one of the largest compensation payments from the British government - over £100,000 for the more than 2,000 people who were freed. The Gladstone brothers later took over the running of their father’s plantations and these letters, dated six years after the abolition of slavery in Guyana, provide an insight into the continuing running of those estates under the guidance of James Stuart. Beginning on the 15th January 1840, and continuing throughout the year until Christmas eve (24th December), these autograph letters provide a comprehensive look at the day-to-day transactions and dilemmas facing Stuart and other members of the estate. Stuart’s correspondence with the Gladstones concern the transportation (and the poor state) of coal, the favourable weather conditions for the production of sugar (and, to the contrary, heavy rains and poor drainage which call a halt to it), tables showing the quantities of sugar, rum and coffee on various ships, and lists of products in the stores including pork and rice on the various estates. In the first letter, several references are made to George Gordon - in one section Stuart writes “Every possible effort continues to be made to get the “George Gordon” discharged with as little delay as possible”. The “Union” is also cited on numerous occasions in conjunction with sugar production, as well as the sale value of one estate which Stuart estimates “if it were known here that the estate was on the market… £45,000 could be got for it” and for another £38,000. The final letter refers to the sale, by Robertson, of one of Vreed [Vreede-en-Hoop, one of the plantations]. An overview of an entire years’ worth of trade from the Demerera Estate in Guyana, these letters formerly in the possession of the two Gladstones, brothers of the later Prime Minister William Gladstone.