Her Collection Of Poetry Was Published In 1773

Wheatley, then 18 years old, had amassed a collection of 28 poems by the time she published advertisements for subscribers in Boston newspapers in February 1772 with Mrs. Wheatley's assistance. No American publisher was willing to publish her work when the colonists seemed unwilling to sponsor literature by an African.

She and the Wheatley were frustrated and decided to look for a publisher in London. Given that England is more welcoming to black authors, Susanna Wheatley thought it was more probable that Phillis' collection would be published there. Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, to whom Whitefield had served as chaplain, had received the Whitefield poem from Wheatley. The countess, a wealthy supporter of evangelical and abolitionist movements, gave bookseller Archibald Bell the order to contact Wheatley in order to prepare the book. Wheatley's collection of poetry was published in London in September 1773 with assistance from Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon.

Her poem “Hymn to the Morning” was published as a “specimen” of her work in The London Magazine in 1773. The reviewer commented on her poetry, saying: “These poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untrained African, who wrote them after six months of careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively.” Up till 1816, 11 editions of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral were published. Phillis Wheatley was the first African American and second woman (after Anne Bradstreet) to publish a book of poems, despite having spent the majority of her life in slavery.