The Caribbean has traditionally been understood as a region that did not develop a significant
'native' literary culture until the postcolonial period. Indeed most literary histories of the
Caribbean begin with the texts associated with the independence movements of the early
twentieth century. However as recent research has shown although the printing press did not
arrive in the Caribbean until 1718 the roots of Caribbean literary history predate its
arrival. This collection contributes to this research by filling a significant gap in literary
and historical knowledge with the first collection of essays specifically focused on the
literatures of the early Caribbean before 1850.
