[African Americana] Roberts, Robert, The House Servants

[African Americana] Roberts, Robert
The House Servants Directory, or A Monitor for Private Families: comprising Hints on the Arrangements and Performance of Servant’s Work,... The Art of Waiting,... Observations on Servants’ Behavior to their Employers; and Upwards of 100 Various and Useful Receipts...
Boston: Monroe and Francis; New York: Charles S. Francis, 1827. First edition. 12mo. (i)-xiv, (1)-180pp. Lacking pp.155-162. Mid-20th century black buckram; untrimmed. Light to moderate foxing and staining to text. Lowenstein 107; American Imprints 30468; see Blockson 9537.Widely regarded as the first commercially published book written by an African American in the United States.
“...but if you do your duty honestly and faithfully, depend on it that you will be more happy in your integrity than your employers can be in their injustice; for it is much better to be oppressed than to stand in the place of the oppressor.”
Robert Roberts (1780-1860), born in South Carolina, worked for Christopher Gore, Governor and Senator from Massachusetts. He later in life became known in Boston as an abolitionist.
From the collection of a Philadelphia Lady.