Note 130 — JOURNAL & LETTERS (continued 2)
Reading edition
Phillis Wheatley had been brought from Africa to Boston as a slave in 1761. Educated by the daughters of her owner, John Wheatley, Phillis manifested remarkable acquisitive powers and soon attracted attention by the excellent character of her verse. Her first bound volume, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in 1773.