Narrative Life by Douglass Frederick, Signed (2 results)

Soft cover. Condition: As New. A little shelf wear. Inscribed by Don Mullan, the editor and author of the introduction to this edition. Inscribed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. xxxvii, [1], 110, [2] pages. DJ has some edgewear. Endpaper map. Footnotes. Illustrations. Inscribed on page "i" by Kenneth B. Morris, Jr. the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass and great-great grandson of Booker T. Washington. Inscription reads To The Team at Represent Women. In Freedom! K. B. Morris, Jr. Editor's Note. Foreword: A Family's Perspective. What the Narrative Means to me [several authors]. Introduction by Bryan Stevenson. Narrative. Photographs: A Family's Perspective. Douglass Timeline. Further Resources. Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. February 1817 or 1818 - February 20, 1895) was an American reformer, abolitionist, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement, during which he gained fame for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. He was described by abolitionists as a living counterexample to enslavers' arguments that enslaved people lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent citizens. Douglass wrote three autobiographies, describing his experiences as an enslaved person in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), which was influential in promoting the cause of abolition, as was his second book, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). Following the Civil War, Douglass was an active campaigner for the rights of freed slaves and wrote his last autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. First published in 1881 and revised in 1892, the book covers his life up to those dates. Douglass believed in dialogue and in making alliances across racial and ideological divides, as well as in the liberal values of the U.S. Constitution. When radical abolitionists, under the motto "No Union with Slaveholders", criticized Douglass's willingness to engage in dialogue with slave owners, he replied: "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an 1845 memoir and treatise on abolition written by African-American orator and former slave Frederick Douglass during his time in Lynn, Massachusetts. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass encompasses eleven chapters that recount Douglass's life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. It contains two introductions by well-known white abolitionists: a preface by William Lloyd Garrison, and a letter by Wendell Phillips, both arguing for the veracity of the account and the literacy of its author. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was published on May 1, 1845, and within four months of this publication, five thousand copies were sold. By 1860, almost 30,000 copies were sold. After publication, he left Lynn, Massachusetts and sailed to England and Ireland for two years in fear of being recaptured by his owner in the United States. While in Britain and Ireland, he gained supporters who paid $710.96 to purchase his emancipation from his legal owner. One of the more significant reasons Douglass published his Narrative was to offset the demeaning manner in which white people viewed him. When he spoke in public, his white abolitionist associates established limits to what he could say on the platform. More specifically, they did not want him to analyze the current slavery issues or to shape the future for black people. However, once Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was published, he was given the liberty to begin more ambitious work on the issue rather than giving the same speeches repetitively. Because of the work in his Narrative, Douglass gained significant credibility from those who previously did not believe the story of his past. While Douglass was in Ireland, the Dublin edition of the book was published by the abolitionist printer Richard D. Webb to great acclaim and Douglass would write extensively in later editions very positively about his experience in Ireland. His newfound liberty on the platform eventually led him to start a black newspaper against the advice of his "fellow" abolitionists. The publication of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass opened several doors, not only for Douglass's ambitious work, but also for the anti-slavery movement of that time. Bicentennial Edition 1818-2018 [stated]. First Edition [stated, thus], Presumed first printing thus.