The Papers of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass's Narrative

Frederick Douglass was the best-known African American reformer of the nineteenth century. This mini-edition presents a chapter from his widely-read first autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. First published in Boston in 1845, only seven years after Douglass's escape from bondage, the Narrative provided the foundation for its author's antebellum reputation as a writer. Douglass's autobiographies provide an unparalleled record not only of the events of his life but also of his shifting perceptions of the complex worlds of slavery and freedom that he inhabited. The chapter selected here describe Douglass's famous battle with the Maryland slave-breaker, Edward Covey, that Douglass recalled as "the turning-point in my career as a slave." This text was prepared according to the demanding standards of the Committee for Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association and are accompanied by appropriate textual as well as historical contextual apparatus.
 
John R. McKivigan, Project Director
Gerald Fulkerson, Textual Editor
Peter P. Hinks, Associate Editor
Rachael L. Drenovsky, Editorial Assistant
Frederick Douglass Portrait
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Sponsors and Supporters

The National Historical Publications
and Records Commission
National Endowment for the Humanities
Indiana University-Purdue University
at Indianapolis
Association for the Study of African
American Life and History
Yale University Press
Goldsmith Foundation
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This page updated 11 February 2004
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