Feb 27, 2007 - Sale 2105

Sale 2105 - Lot 171

Price Realized: $ 31,200
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 25,000 - $ 35,000
A LETTER TO THE WOMAN WHO HELPED BUY HIS FREEDOM DOUGLASS, FREDERICK. Autograph Letter Signed to Anna Richardson discussing on-going efforts to purchase his freedom and commenting on his successes in London. Two 8vo leaves, folded to form four pages. Creases where folded, very light wear. London, Free Trade Club, 17 August [1846]
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In full ; "My Dear friend,

I have received yours of 17 instant--I have no time to write you as I would wish to do--I am in the midst of hurry, noise and confusion I should have wrote to you immediately after my arrival here, but I found a number of letters from the United States and from home that required answers which took up al the time. My Anna says 'Come home' and I have now resolved upon going home--the day is fixed and my dear Anna will be informed of it in a few days. I shall sail for America on the fourth November--and hope to meet the beloved one of my heart by the 20th of that month. Do not allow this arrangement (to) interfere in any way with your correspondence with my owner--as whether you succeed or fail good may come of the effort. Our meeting here on Monday (possibly the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance) was a good one. I was much fatigued and worried out by my journey so that I could say but little and that little not much to the purpose. I carried the parcel committed to me by Mr. Forster and sure enough an attempt was made to make me swear. I didn't feel at liberty to do so--I therefore left the parcel--it is very embarrassing to a stranger to be subjected to such questions as may be put to him by being placed in the position which I was placed by Mr. Forster. I leave this tomorrow and shall proceed to Playford Hall that I may with grateful eyes behold the venerable Thomas Clarkson. Please make my love to your own dear Henry and believe my Sincerely yours, F. Douglass. (beneath that) Anna Richardson."

The publication of his Narrative in 1845, and the notoriety that his public appearances were generating, made Douglass realize he was in danger of being captured and returned to slavery. Early in 1846 he sailed for England for a speaking tour. In July, Douglass visited with Ellen Richardson and her brother and sister-in-law, Henry and Anna Richardson. The Richardsons were Quakers and strong anti-slavery activists.
Douglass opens the letter by alluding to the negotiations between the Richardsons and his owner Hugh Auld, who stubbornly refused to free Douglass; he could only be bought. This was a complex and thorny issue. Many staunch anti-slavery advocates believed Douglass should not have allowed himself to be bought, thus tacitly acknowledging the right of one man to own another. Douglass deals with this issue in his Life and Times, saying that were he not a public figure, he might have agreed with them, but he felt he could be of more use to his people as a free man. After discreet negotiations, the Richardsons were able to secure Douglass's freedom--by purchasing him--for the sum of £150.00 ($750.00), on December 12th, 1846.
Douglass's upset with a Mr. Forster is very likely William Forster, a prominent Quaker. A large group of Quakers were incensed over the Friends' (world-wide) dictum that Quakers should abstain from attending any non-Quaker abolitionist meetings. As a result, nearly 2000 of them were seceding from the Society of Friends. Forster was charged with bringing them back into the fold. It would appear that Douglass resented being put into the middle of this internecine battle among white abolitionists.
At the end of December Douglass, a free man, booked a first-class berth on the Cambria for his return to the United States. The ticket cost £40.00. Upon boarding, he was directed to steerage, and forbidden to enter the saloon for the duration of the voyage. The ticket that had cost nearly a third the price paid for his freedom could not buy him the respect due a white passenger.