The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Written by Himself

by Equiano, Olaudah; Allison, Robert J.

• ISBN13: 9780312442033
• ISBN10: 0312442033
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-07
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Widely admired for its vivid accounts of the slave trade, Olaudah Equiano's autobiography -- the first slave narrative to attract a significant readership -- reveals many aspects of the eighteenth-century Western world through the experiences of one individual. The second edition reproduces the original London printing, supervised by Equiano in 1789. Robert J. Allison's introduction, which places Equiano's narrative in the context of the Atlantic slave trade, has been revised and updated to reflect the heated controversy surrounding Equiano's birthplace, as well as the latest scholarship on Atlantic history and the history of slavery. Improved pedagogical features include contemporary illustrations with expanded captions and a map showing Equiano's travels in greater detail. Helpful footnotes provide guidance throughout the eighteenth-century text, and a chronology and an up-to-date bibliography aid students in their study of this thought-provoking narrative.

Author Biography

ROBERT J. ALLISON (Ph.D., Harvard University) is associate professor of history and chair of the department at Suffolk University, where he teaches U.S. and world history and the history of Boston. He is the author of A Short History of Boston (2004) and The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World 1776–1815 (2000). He has edited two volumes of twentieth-century American political and social history: History In Dispute: The Pursuit of Progress, 1900–1945 and The Pursuit of Liberty, 1945–2000 (2000). He has also edited several volumes in the award-winning American Eras series, including The Revolutionary Era, 1754–1783 (1998) and The Development of a Nation, 1783–1815 (1997). Allison is an elected life member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and a fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He is currently working on a biography of the American naval hero Stephen Decatur.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Preface	vii
LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS	xi
PART ONE Introduction: Equiano's Worlds	7	(30)
Olaudah Equiano and the Eighteenth-Century World	8	(4)
Equiano and the Antislavery Movement	12	(7)
African Identities in the New World	19	(2)
Equiano's Narrative as an Abolitionist Tool	21	(3)
The Question of Equiano's Origins	24	(3)
The Literary Context of Equiano's Narrative	27	(4)
Equiano's Legacy	31	(6)
PART TWO The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself	37	(178)
Dedication	41	(1)
Volume I	42	(88)
Volume II	130	(85)
PART THREE Related Documents	215	(11)
Olaudah Equiano, Letter to James Tobin, January 28, 1788	215	(4)
Olaudah Equiano, Letter to the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, February 7, 1789	219	(1)
Olaudah Equiano, Letter to Thomas Hardy, May 28, 1792	220	(2)
William Blake, Illustrations for Narrative, of a Five Years' Expedition...by John G. Stedman, 1796	222	(4)
APPENDIXES
An Equiano Chronology	226	(6)
Questions for Consideration	232	(2)
Selected Bibliography	234	(3)
Index	237