Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -

Sale 2697 - Lot 366

Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
(SLAVERY.) [Venture Smith.] A Narrative of the Life & Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa, but Resident above Sixty Years in the United States. 24 pages. 12mo, stitched; worn and foxed, minor dampstaining, title page detached, lacking bottom 1¼ inch of 6th leaf with loss of about 3 lines of text on both pages, lacking bottom 2 inches of final leaf without loss of text. New London, CT: "A Descendant of Venture," 1835
Request Condition Report Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

Second edition. Once of the scarcest and most important of the first-hand narratives of the Middle Passage, and the first slavery narrative published in the United States. Venture Smith (circa 1729-1805) was born as Broteer Furro in West Africa, and was sold into slavery as a young boy. The Middle Passage brought him to Barbados, from where he was sold to an owner on Fishers Island off the coast of Connecticut; sold to an owner in Stonington, CT; made an unsuccessful escape attempt; married and had a family; and was able to purchase his own freedom in 1765. He was legendary for his size and great strength. After establishing himself on Long Island, NY, he was able to purchase the freedom of his wife and sons. He bought a farm in Haddam, CT in 1775, where he spent the remainder of his days.

Smith's story has been the subject of intense scholarly attention. In 2016, the Documenting Venture Smith Project determined through painstaking literary analysis that Smith was the actual author of the narrative. A museum exhibition was dedicated to his life, and the Narrative was translated into Fante language for distribution in Ghana, the land of his birth.

This second edition was published after Smith's death by his family. "A few lines at the end, in which Venture complains of the character of his sons, are quite naturally omitted in this edition published by a descendant"--Sabin 84481. Howes S681; this edition not recorded in Afro-Americana, Blockson, Brignano, or Work. All of the early editions are scarce. This second edition has not been traced at auction since 1923 in RareBookHub or American Book Prices Current. We have traced one example of the 1798 first edition at auction, which brought $17,000 hammer in 2014.

Provenance: inherited by consignor from her great-aunt in 1975; appraised on Antiques Roadshow in the episode aired on 13 January 2025.

Also in This Catalogue