Books published by Cosimo Classics

Sometimes published as *Adventures of an African Slaver,* this replica of the 1854 first edition restores its original title. All of its unique power remains intact.Adapted from the journals, memoranda, and conversations of French-Italian seafarer and notorious slaver CAPTAIN THEODORE CANOT (1804-1860), this vivid and unexaggerated depiction of the slave trade between Africa and the New World is prized as a firsthand account of every aspect of the industry, from how slaves are purchased to the first reactions of newly arrived slaves to the New World and beyond.Explicit and shocking, this volume is also a startling illustration of the racist attitudes of its day, from Canot's justifications for the slave trade to the introduction by American journalist BRANTZ MAYER (1809-1879), who compiled Canot's material for publication and defended his subject's work.This is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of American slavery.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of English poet GEOFFREY CHAUCER (c. 1343¿c. 1400) to the development of literature in the English language. His writings¿which were popular during his own lifetime with the nobility as well as with the increasingly literate merchant class¿marked the first celebration of the English vernacular as a tongue worthy of literary endeavor, most notably in his unfinished narrative poem The Canterbury Tales, the format and structure of which continues to be imitated by writers today. But the impact of Chaucer¿s work was felt even into the 16th and 17th centuries, when the first major collections of his writings set a high standard for how authors should be presented to the reading public.This widely esteemed seven-volume set¿first published in the 1890s by British academic WALTER WILLIAM SKEAT (1835¿1912), Erlington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge University¿is based solely on Chaucer¿s original manuscripts and the earliest available published works (with any significant variations or deviations between versions highlighted in the extensive notes), and comes complete with Skeat¿s informative commentary on many passages.Volume V features Skeat¿s extensive notes on The Canterbury Tales.