Narrative of Sojourner Truth; a Bondswoman of Olden Time, Emancipated by the New York Legislature in the Early Part of the Present Century; With a History of her Labors and Correspondence, Drawn from her "Book OF Life." Also, A Memorial Chapter, Giving the Particulars of Her Last Sickness and Death
- Portrait. xii, 13–320pp. 8vo
- Battle Creek: Review and Herald Office, 1881
Battle Creek: Review and Herald Office, 1881. First Battle Creek edition. Portrait. xii, 13–320pp. 8vo. Publisher's cloth, minor wear, front hinge starting. Bookplate on the front pastedown. First Battle Creek edition. Portrait. xii, 13–320pp. 8vo. Sojourner Truth's Narrative is a landmark in African-American and women's history. Born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, New York in the late eighteenth century, she won her emancipation under New York state law in 1827 and adopted the name Sojourner Truth in 1843. After a time as a domestic in New York City she embarked on a lifelong career as an advocate for civil and women's rights, travelling and speaking widely. She lived for a time at the utopian "Northampton Association" in western Massachusetts, and dictated her story to Olive Gilbert, publishing the first edition of the Narrative in 1850.
"A legend in her own time, Sojourner Truth's indomitable will has won her a permanent place in American History" - Blockson. "In modern times she has come to stand for the conjunction of race, class, and gender in American liberal reform and symbolizes the unintimidated, articulate black woman. Acutely intelligent although totally unschooled, Truth represents a type of inspired, naive witness that has long appealed to Americans suspicious of over-education" - ANB
There are four principal editions of the Narrative: the Boston first edition of 1850; the substantially the same but textually reset second edition of 1853 with New York imprint (the second issue of which includes Harriet Beecher Stowe's Introduction for the first time); the revised and enlarged edition of 1875 (including a preface by William Lloyd Garrison and selections from her Book of Life including her 1851 "Ar'nt I a Woman" speech); and the present 1881 Battle Creek edition. Blockson, 101 Influential Books, 29; Work, p.476; Howes G163; Women's Writing in the United States, pp.888-889; ANB 21, pp.880-882
"A legend in her own time, Sojourner Truth's indomitable will has won her a permanent place in American History" - Blockson. "In modern times she has come to stand for the conjunction of race, class, and gender in American liberal reform and symbolizes the unintimidated, articulate black woman. Acutely intelligent although totally unschooled, Truth represents a type of inspired, naive witness that has long appealed to Americans suspicious of over-education" - ANB
There are four principal editions of the Narrative: the Boston first edition of 1850; the substantially the same but textually reset second edition of 1853 with New York imprint (the second issue of which includes Harriet Beecher Stowe's Introduction for the first time); the revised and enlarged edition of 1875 (including a preface by William Lloyd Garrison and selections from her Book of Life including her 1851 "Ar'nt I a Woman" speech); and the present 1881 Battle Creek edition. Blockson, 101 Influential Books, 29; Work, p.476; Howes G163; Women's Writing in the United States, pp.888-889; ANB 21, pp.880-882