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Douglass most lasting work is his autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave," which was published in 1945. Critics frequently attacked the book as inauthentic, not believing that a black man could not possiblehave written so eloquent a work. It was an immediate bestseller and received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews. Within three years of publication, it was reprinted 9 times with 11,000 copies circulating in the United States and translated into French and Dutch. The book's success, however, forced him to go to England to escape reenslavement. He was only able to return when two Englishwomen, Ellen and Anna Richardson, purchased his freedom from his former master, Hugh Auld, for 700 dollars. |
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Douglass most lasting work is his autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave," which was published in 1945. Critics frequently attacked the book as inauthentic, not believing that a black man could not possibly have written so eloquent a work. It was an immediate bestseller and received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews. Within three years of publication, it was reprinted 9 times with 11,000 copies circulating in the United States and translated into French and Dutch. The book's success, however, forced him to go to England to escape reenslavement. He was only able to return when two Englishwomen, Ellen and Anna Richardson, purchased his freedom from his former master, Hugh Auld, for 700 dollars. |
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Parts of this article are drawn from Houston A. Baker, Jr. introduction to the Penguin 1986 edition of "Narrative of the Life of a Frederick Douglass" |
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Parts of this article are drawn from Houston A. Baker, Jr. introduction to the Penguin 1986 edition of "Narrative of the Life of a Frederick Douglass" |
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