Feb 27, 2003 - Sale 1961

Sale 1961 - Lot 47

Price Realized: $ 345
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(SLAVERY and ABOLITION.) (SLAVE NARRATIVE.) Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave . . . Second Edition. Small 8vo, original lettered boards, rubbed at extremities, rebacked with paper tape. London, 1851

Additional Details



Henson (1789-1883), the model for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom, escaped from bondage in Maryland in 1831 and fled to Canada. He and his sons started a lumber mill. In 1849, when the mill was heavily indebted, Henson went to England to raise funds. There he was given a bronze medal and a picture of Queen Victoria and her family in recognition of the fine polished walnut wood he had been exporting to England. This narrative was published while he was in England raising money.