This section of the 1783 Advertisement dedicates the edition to the Abbé Raynal, an 18th-century French intellectual whose popular book
History of the East and West Indies strongly condemned slavery. This book is quite likely the historical volume Crèvecoeur mentions that moved him so profoundly and inspired him to begin writing himself. Again, he emphasizes the point that he’s not educated and titled like the Abbé, a formulaic statement of humility that paradoxically lets him claim standing in the literary world.