Mar 26, 2015 - Sale 2377

Sale 2377 - Lot 361

Unsold
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
[MCDOUGAL, HARRIET FRANCES (WHIPPLE) GREENE]. Shahmah in Pursuit of Freedom; or The Branded Hand. Translated From the Original Showiah, and Edited by an American Citizen. Engraved portrait of Shahmah Shah. 599 pages. Thick 8vo, original blind-stamped turkey morocco gilt extra with five raised bands; all edges marbled. an exceptional copy, in a gift binding. New York: Thatcher and Hutchinson, 1858

Additional Details

first edition, rare, oclc locating only one copy. Written by Frances Harriet (Whipple) Greene, this most unusual novel claims to be the first-hand the account of a Moslem prince visiting America during the period of slavery and the beginnings of sectionalism and secession. It is told in the form of letters, and is clearly the work of a staunch abolitionist. The 'Translator's Preface' warns: 'The dark and fearful crisis into which, as a Nation we are now opening, startles us out of all ceremony, and demands cogent thought . . .' The content of the letters can be unusual to say the least. Under 'Intellect of the Negro Vindicated' we find 'Instances of Physical Beauty in the Negro--Instances of Inferior Whites.' There follows a great deal on Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown and other Negro intellectuals. Wright Fiction, Volume II, number 1613.