TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE. NARRATIVE OF SOLOMON NORTHUP, A CITIZEN OF NEW-YORK, KIDNAPPED IN WASHINGTON CITY IN 1841, AND RESCUED IN 1853, FROM A COTTON PLANTATION NEAR THE RED RIVER, IN LOUISIANA

Auburn: Derby and Miller, 1853. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Octavo, 336 pages; G; bound in 3/4 red leather, pebbled dark green cloth boards, paneled spine with gilt and no titling; hinges cracked, some rubbing to binding; reinforcement to both front and rear gutters; gift inscription to second free endpaper; page 336 with significant damage, appears to have at one point been glued to something; Significantly foxed, as usual, with finger smudges and wear to pages, some fraying to scattered fore edges;




With all seven wood engravings, including frontispiece portrait; true first printing of this scarce title, with no mention of "Thousand" at top of title page; lacking four-page catalogue;




LB consignment; shelved case 1. Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson.




Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details his being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before he was able to secretly get information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana. [wikipedia];. 1321937. Shelved Dupont Bookstore. (Inventory #: 1321937)