Clotel or the President's Daughter

1996. Brown, William Wells; Cashin, Joan E. Clotel or the President's Daughter. A new edition with primary documents and introduction by Joan E. Cashin. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996. xxiv, 191 pp., illustrations. Original black cloth. Very light sticker residue near foot of spine, else near fine. $20. * Originally published in 1853, Clotel is the first novel by an African American. William Wells Brown, a contemporary of Frederick Douglass, was well known for his abolitionist activities. In Clotel, the author focuses on the experiences of a slave woman: Brown treats the themes of gender, race, and slavery in distinctive ways, highlighting the mutability of identity as well as the absurdities and cruelties of slavery. (Publisher's description).