In this letter, written to an anti-slavery minister and dated May 6, 1774, Wheatley discusses missionary work in Africa and her desire to sell copies of her book. On the former, she describes “turning the African from darkness to light” as God’s “great work,” and suggests that missionaries model virtue by “setting a good example.” On the latter, she notes the arrival from London of 300 copies of her collected poems and asks for Hopkins’s help in selling them as soon as possible.

Boston Public Library, Rare Books & Manuscripts