Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself - Softcover

Brent (Harriet Jacobs), Linda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 161203036X ISBN 13: 9781612030364

Publisher: Bottom of the Hill Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is one of the first personal narratives written by a slave and one of the few written by a woman. Harriet Jacobs, Linda Brent, was a slave in North Carolina who suffered terribly at the hands of a ruthless owner. She made several failed attempts to escape before successfully making her way north, a process that took years of hiding and slow travel. Jacobs is now perhaps the most read and studied Black American woman of the nineteenth century. "Reader be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of my adventures may seem incredible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Slavery; on the contrary, my descriptions fall far short of the facts. I have concealed the names of places, and given persons fictitious names. I had no motive for secrecy on my own account, but I deemed it kind and considerate towards others to pursue this course."

About this title

From the Back Cover:

These two slave narratives expand our knowledge of the differing ways males and females coped with enslavement and later ordeals in flight. This popularly-priced anthology contains the often taught Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and the recently discovered A True Tale of Slavery by John S. Jacobs, her younger brother, now reprinted for the first time.

After Harriet’s owner, a physician, repeatedly abused her, she escaped his sexual advances for a time by entering into a relationship with a local attorney. Her owner continued to harass her, and she sought refuge in a crawlspace where she lived in hiding. After her escape to the North, she published her narrative.

John S. Jacobs “walked away” as he put it, from his owner, a congressman. He sailed on a whaling ship and educated himself. He then became a paid agent of the Anti-Slavery Society, made a lecturing trip with Frederick Douglass, and finally settled in London, where he remained until it was safe for a fugitive to return to the North. He wrote his story for a London Sunday school journal where it was published in 1861.

From the Inside Flap:

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.

"From the Trade Paperback edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bottom of the Hill Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 161203036X
• ISBN 13: 9781612030364
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 166
• Editor: Child L Maria