ISBN: 0446531731

An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a … Mehr…

An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., it is a stirring, page-turning story of "passing" and the adventures of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom. When Professor Gates saw that modest listing in an auction catalogue for African American artifacts, he immediately knew he could be on the verge of a major discovery. After exhaustively researching the hand-written manuscript's authenticity, he found that his instincts were right. He had purchased a genuine antobiographical novel by a female slave who called herself -- and her story's main character -- Hannah Crafts. This facsimile edition of The Bondwoman's Narrative offers a high-resolution reproduction of the manuscript that Professor Gates found, presenting Crafts's tale with a poignancy and power not found elsewhere. In her own hand the author tells of a self-educated young house slave all too aware of her bondage who never suspects that the freedom of her mistress is also at risk...or how both will soon flee slave hunters and another ever more dangerous enemy. Together with Professor Gates's brilliant introduction -- which includes the story of his search for the real Hannah Crafts, the biographical facts that laid the groundwork for her novel, and a fascinating look a african-american studies,classics,contemporary,fiction,genre fiction,historical,literary,literary criticism,literary criticism and collections,literature and fiction Politics & Social Sciences, Grand Central Publishing<

ISBN: 0446531731

An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a … Mehr…

An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., it is a stirring, page-turning story of "passing" and the adventures of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom. When Professor Gates saw that modest listing in an auction catalogue for African American artifacts, he immediately knew he could be on the verge of a major discovery. After exhaustively researching the hand-written manuscript's authenticity, he found that his instincts were right. He had purchased a genuine antobiographical novel by a female slave who called herself -- and her story's main character -- Hannah Crafts. This facsimile edition of The Bondwoman's Narrative offers a high-resolution reproduction of the manuscript that Professor Gates found, presenting Crafts's tale with a poignancy and power not found elsewhere. In her own hand the author tells of a self-educated young house slave all too aware of her bondage who never suspects that the freedom of her mistress is also at risk...or how both will soon flee slave hunters and another ever more dangerous enemy. Together with Professor Gates's brilliant introduction -- which includes the story of his search for the real Hannah Crafts, the biographical facts that laid the groundwork for her novel, and a fascinating look a african-american studies,classics,contemporary,fiction,genre fiction,historical,literary,literary criticism,literary criticism and collections,literature and fiction Politics & Social Sciences, Grand Central Publishing<

ISBN: 0446531731

Few events are more thrilling than the discovery of a buried treasure. Some years ago, when scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. was leafing through an auction catalog, he noticed a listing for … Mehr…

Few events are more thrilling than the discovery of a buried treasure. Some years ago, when scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. was leafing through an auction catalog, he noticed a listing for an unpublished, clothbound manuscript thought to date from the 1850s: "The Bondwoman's Narrative, by Hannah Crafts, a Fugitive Slave, Recently Escaped from North Carolina." Gates realized that, if genuine, this would be the first novel known to have been written by a black woman in America, as well as the only one by a fugitive slave. He bought the manuscript (there was no competing bid) and began the exhilarating task of confirming the racial identity of the author and the approximate date of composition (circa 1855-59). Gates's excited descriptions of his detective work in the introduction to The Bondwoman's Narrative will make you want to find promising old manuscripts of your own. He also proposes a couple candidates for authorship, assuming that Hannah Crafts was the real or assumed name of the author, and not solely a pen name. If Gates is right (his introduction and appendix should convince just about everyone), The Bondwoman's Narrative is a tremendous discovery. But is it a lost masterpiece? No. The novel draws so heavily on the conventions of mid-19th-century fiction--by turns religious, gothic, and sentimental--that it does not have much flavor of its own. The beginning of chapter 13 is a close paraphrase (virtually a cribbing) of the opening of Dickens's african-american studies,classics,contemporary,genre fiction,historical,literary,literature and fiction,politics and social sciences,social sciences,specific demographics Politics & Social Sciences, Warner Books<

ISBN: 9780446531733

Readers are given first-time access to the original 19th century manuscript that became the New York Times bestseller The Bondwoman's Narrative in this special facsimile edition. The Bond… Mehr…

Readers are given first-time access to the original 19th century manuscript that became the New York Times bestseller The Bondwoman's Narrative in this special facsimile edition. The Bondwoman's Narrative tells the story of Hannah Crafts, a young slave working on a wealthy North Carolina plantation, who runs away in a bid for freedom up North. The historically accurate retelling of her ultimately successful flight to freedom provides a fascinating view of American life in the mid-1800s and the literary conventions of the time. Now, in this special facsimile edition, readers can enjoy the manuscript in its original form and read about Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s quest to have it authenticated. The Bondwoman's Narrative Crafts, Hannah / Gates, Henry Louis, JR., Warner Books<

ISBN: 9780446531733

Readers are given first-time access to the original 19th century manuscript that became the New York Times bestseller The Bondwoman's Narrative in this special facsimile edition. The Bond… Mehr…

Readers are given first-time access to the original 19th century manuscript that became the New York Times bestseller The Bondwoman's Narrative in this special facsimile edition. The Bondwoman's Narrative tells the story of Hannah Crafts, a young slave working on a wealthy North Carolina plantation, who runs away in a bid for freedom up North. The historically accurate retelling of her ultimately successful flight to freedom provides a fascinating view of American life in the mid-1800s and the literary conventions of the time. Now, in this special facsimile edition, readers can enjoy the manuscript in its original form and read about Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s quest to have it authenticated. Media > Book, [PU: Warner Books]<