Twelve Years a Slave. Narrative of Solomon Northup [Illustrated Edition] - Softcover

Northup, Solomon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1578989892 ISBN 13: 9781578989898

Publisher: Martino Fine Books, 2010

Synopsis

2010 reprint of 1855 edition. Twelve Years a Slave was written by Solomon Northup; a man who was born free but was bound into slavery later in life. The book, originally published in 1853, tells the story of how two men approached him under the guise of circus promoters who were interested in his violin skills. They offered him a generous but fair amount of money to work for their circus, and then offered to put him up in a hotel in Washington D.C. Upon arriving there he was drugged, bound, and moved to a slave pen in the city, after which he was sold. Northup's account describes the daily life of slaves in the American South during the period just before the civil war. He provides detailed accounts of their diet, the relationship between the master and slave, the means that slave catchers used to recapture them and the ugly realities that slaves suffered. Northup's slave narrative is comparable to that of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs or William Wells Brown, and there are many similarities. Northup's also provides an extremely detailed description of Washington in 1841.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This story of the abduction of a free Negro adult from the North and his enslavement in the South--provides a sensational element which cannot be matched in any of the dozens of narratives written by former slaves. 'Think of it: For thirty years a man, wit all man's hopes, fears and aspirations--with a wife and children to call him by the endearing names of husband and father--with a home, humble it may be, but still a home...then for twelve years a thing, a chattel personal, classed with mules and horses....Oh! it is horrible. It chills the blood to think that such are.'

About the Author

SOLOMON NORTHUP was born in 1808 and lived as a free man in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and three children until his capture and enslavement in 1841. He was one of very few who were able to regain their freedom after being kidnapped and sold into slavery. After he returned to New York, he published his memoir and became an active abolitionist, lecturing throughout the Northeast about his experiences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1578989892
• ISBN 13: 9781578989898
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 188