This is the title page of 'Poems on the Abolition of the Slave Trade' by James Montgomery and others, 1809. The illustration below the title features an allegory in a roundel.

During the 18th century, there was a dramatic change in the reading public as levels of literacy rose. Print culture was directed towards upper-class women and also the flourishing middle classes. Poetry was a very popular form of 18th-century literature, much of it characterized by emotive language and appeals to the heart. This style was harnessed by poets to plead the cause of abolition.