60 Great Books Bauman Rare Books - 24 - Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, 1845 First Edition In Original Cloth 21. DOUGLASS, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Boston, 1845. 12mo, original blind- and gilt-stamped brown cloth. $38,000. First edition of Douglass’ powerful autobiography about the struggle for freedom, with engraved portrait of Douglass, an excellent copy in original cloth. “The history of African Americans cannot be told without reference to Douglass’ writings” (Cambridge Companion, 2). “The most influential African American of the 19th century, Douglass made a career of agitating the American conscience.” He wrote his Narrative (later expanded into My Bondage and My Freedom in 1855) after escaping from slavery in 1838. William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, who respectively wrote the preface and an introduction to this edition, “had advised Douglass to burn the manuscript unless he would be recaptured and enslaved again,” but he chose to answer those fears with this autobiography, a volume that is “probably the best known narrative of the ante-bellum period” (Blockson, 27). Douglass’ Narrative is a “masterpiece of American literary art… without peer” (Houston A. Baker, Jr). With engraved frontispiece portrait of Douglass. Sabin 20711. Blockson 9739. Work, 474. Interior generally fresh with only light occasional soiling, expert reinforcement to text block and inner hinges, mere trace of rubbing to bright gilt cloth. A very good copy, exceedingly rare in unrestored original cloth. Desirable 1875 Edition Of The Narrative Of Sojourner Truth—The First To Feature Her Engraved Image On The Rare Original Cloth Binding And As Frontispiece, Chosen By Her And Based On Her Iconic Photographic Portrait 22. TRUTH, Sojourner. Narrative of Sojourner Truth. No place, 1875. Octavo (5-1/4 by 7-3/4 inches), original gilt-stamped pictorial russet cloth, custom clamshell box. $25,000. Rare 1875 edition of Sojourner Truth’s powerful account that inspired a nation. This exceptional edition is the first to display her favorite and “most famous” portrait from a carte-de-visite photograph taken circa 1864, personally chosen by her to be featured in the original cloth and as its engraved frontispiece portrait. “A legend inher own time,” Sojourner Truthwas a tireless fighter against slavery and for women’s rights: a figure whose “indomitable will has won her a permanent place in American history” (Blockson 29). This especially rare and important 1875 edition of Truth’s Narrative stands out as the first to display her favorite and “most famous” portrait on the front and rear covers, and as its frontispiece. The image, personally chosen by her for this edition, is from a photograph taken circa 1864. She presents herself “as a model for an emancipated, prosperous African American future” (Grigsby, 73-6). Issued in russet cloth (this copy) and dark brown cloth; no priority established. Containing tipped-in “To the Reader” between title page and preface. Schomburg, 326.92.G. Blockson 3434. Work, 476. This copy possesses a distinctive provenance in containing the laid-in bookplate of a Unitarian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as its inkstamp on the title page. Sojourner Truth made Battle Creek, Michigan her base for nearly three decades, and at her death in 1883 was buried in its Oak Creek Cemetery. “There are at least seven known paths that led slaves from various points in Michigan to the Canadian shore and it is estimated that 200 Underground Railroad stops existed throughout Michigan between the 1820s and 1865s” (Detroit Historical Society). Faint trace of bookplate removal to front pastedown. Interior quite fresh, only lightest edge-wear, trace of faint soiling to bright cloth. A handsome about-fine copy, exceedingly rare in original cloth.
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