[SOJOURNER TRUTH] Stone William L Matthias and His Imposture

Sale 2377 - Lot 51

Price Realized: $ 1,500

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

[SOJOURNER TRUTH]. Stone, William L. Matthias and His Impostures; or the Progress of Fanaticism Illustrated in the Extraordinary Case of Robert Matthews. 347+ 8 pages of publisher's advertisements. Thick 12mo, original pebble-grained green publisher's cloth with the title in gilt on the spine; occasional foxing throughout. Enclosed in a custom-made morocco-backed clamshell box; spine gilt with five raised bands. New York: Harpers, 1835

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

rare first edition of this unusual account, involving sojourner truth ('isabella'). In 1832, Isabella Baumfree, who had freed herself from bondage in upstate New York and later renamed herself 'Sojourner Truth,' met Elijah Pierson, prophet of a religious sect. She joined with her infant child and met Robert Matthias, another member of the sect, who vied for leadership, claiming to be Jesus Christ incarnate. Matthias was accused of killing Elijah Pierson with some poisoned blackberries. Isabella, his servant, was of course implicated. In the end, Isabella was not only cleared, but awarded a sum of money after she sued the court for slander--the first black person to win such a suit. Not in the Blockson Collection