Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave and Other Writings [FIRST FALL RIVER PRESS EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Douglass, Frederick

Published by Fall River Press, New York, 2010

About this Item

As new condition color illustrated boards. Includes Introduction and Preface. Illustrated with color decorated front and rear endpapers. "The publication of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and American Slave in 1845 was a milestone in American history. The book gave impetus to the American abolitionist movement on the eve of the Civil War, and its articulate author, a twenty-eight-year-old escaped slave, became a leading spokesman for the movement shortly after its publication. Douglass's Narrative established him as a symbol illustrating the cruel injustices of slavery and it helped to launch his career as a n eloquent advocate of freedom and equality for blacks in America. Perhaps more important, the book valitdated the path Douglass chose to earn his own freedom. Denied education and instruction in how to read and write, Douglass realized that ignorance was a tool that white masters used to enslave blacks. He determined to teach himself how to read and write and, as he writes, "From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom" . Frederick Douglass died of heart failure in Massachusetts on February 20, 1895, at the age of seventy-eight. His life spanned virtually the entire nineteenth century, and it encapsulated what is arguably one of the most significant parts of the American experience during that century. Few authors wrote as passionately and prolifically as he did on a single theme but few were so deeply invested as he was in that cause behind that theme. Returning to his life experience again and again, in essays and books written over a half century, Douglass showed how critical appreciation of his race and his roots were to his identity. By using his life to illustrated the injustice of slavery and the unhumanity of racial oppression, he created a body of work that transcends its time and place. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave as well as Douglass's other writings have been embraced by people of many races and cultures as enduring testaments to the indomitability of the human spirit, the perseverance of the individual in the pursuit of freedom, and the belief that in the struggle for equality justice ultimately prevails." - excerpt from the Introduction. Seller Inventory # 007541

Bibliographic Details

Title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass ...

Publisher: Fall River Press, New York

Publication Date: 2010

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Kaplan, Patrice

Condition: As New

Edition: 1st Edition