William Bell Crafton

William Bell Crafton authored A Short Sketch of the Evidence, delivered before a Committee of the House of Commons, for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, 3rd ed. (London: M. Gurney, 1792). The pamphlet appeared anonymously and without any publisher details other than the year, but it was signed “W.B.C.” Whether Martha Gurney was contacted by the Committee to print that first edition of the Short Sketch is unknown, but we do know that she printed the third edition that same year. After reviewing the highlights of more than 2000 pages of testimony, Crafton offered two recommendations: that the people of England petition the legislature for an immediate abolition of the slave trade, and that they read Fox’s Address, for, other than parliamentary action, abstaining from West India produce was the most viable means of ending the slave trade.  To reinforce this opinion, Crafton devoted the final three and one-half pages of his pamphlet to excerpts from the Address. A second edition had previously been published in Glasgow. Crafton’s Sketch is the only work published by Gurney that had been originally commissioned by the Abolitionist Society.  Like her brief collaboration with Phillips in publishing the early editions of Fox’s Address, Gurney’s publication of the Sketch demonstrates that her efforts in printing and selling abolitionist tracts did not go unnoticed by the Committee.