‘If They Regarded Mathematical Accuracy’: Problems of Exactness in the ‘Improved’ Versions of the Slave Ship Brooks

In visual culture, the diagram of the slave ship Brooks has become perhaps the most familiar and ubiquitous icon of slavery and abolition. First created by the abolitionist committee in Plymouth in 1788, it was quickly 'improved' in London to give the diagram greater authenticity and accuracy. In two forms – the Plan and Sections and the Description – the diagram, with its hard-hitting text, became a powerful piece of abolitionist propaganda that was still used to support anti-slavery campaigning in the early 1850s. However, despite its claims to accuracy at the time, and its subsequent recognition as an image drawing on the scientific rationality of the day, what the text claims and what the diagram shows do not tally. In other words, no version of the 'improved' slave ship Brooks is shown carrying the number of Africans indicated in the accompanying text. Moreover, this problem of exactness is compounded by frequent misunderstandings as to which of the principal versions of the diagram is being interrogated. This article seeks to explore the origins of the 'improved' Brooks diagram and the mutable nature of this most-recognisable image.