In 1845, just seven years after his escape from slavery, the
young Frederick Douglass published this powerful account of
his life in bondage and his triumph over oppression. The
book, which marked the beginning of Douglass’s career as an
impassioned writer, journalist, and orator for the
abolitionist cause, reveals the terrors he faced as a slave,
the brutalities of his owners and overseers, and his
harrowing escape to the North. It has become a classic of
American autobiography.
This edition of the book, based on the authoritative text
that appears in Yale University Press’s multivolume edition
of the Frederick Douglass Papers, is the only edition of
Douglass’s Narrative designated as an Approved Text by the
Modern Language Association’s Committee on Scholarly
Editions. It includes a chronology of Douglass’s life, a
thorough introduction by the eminent Douglass scholar John
Blassingame, historical notes, and reader responses to the
first edition of 1845.
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