narrative of the life of frederick douglass book

Items on the wish list include the first British editions of “Narrative” from 18, later American editions from throughout the 1850s, the first French edition from 1848, and first editions of “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass” in its 1881 version and its 1892 revision. PUL currently owns six: an 1855 copy of “My Bondage and My Freedom,” published in New York, and five editions of the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” 1845, 18 editions published in Boston, Massachusetts, an 1845 edition published in Dublin, Ireland, and an 1848 edition Douglass self-published in Rochester, New York.

The collection is held in PUL’s Special Collections, located in Firestone Library.ĭouglass, an enslaved citizen from Maryland who escaped slavery and later became a leading voice in the anti-slavery movement, wrote three autobiographies in his lifetime: “Narrative of the Live of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave' (1845), “My Bondage and My Freedom” (1855), and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass” (1881). PUL’s goal, according to history and African American studies librarian Steve Knowlton, is to eventually own copies of each of the early editions produced in Douglass’s lifetime. Princeton University Library (PUL) has begun building a collection of early editions of autobiographies from renowned abolitionist, suffragist, and human rights leader Frederick Douglass.

Photo by Stephanie Ramírez, Princeton University Library Pictured above is an 1847 edition of the book. Douglass wrote three autobiographies in his lifetime, including Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

Narrative of the life of frederick douglass book