First biography of radical abolitionist executed after his failed raid on Harper's Ferry

Redpath, James

The Public Life of Capt. John Brown, with an Auto-Biography of His Childhood and Youth. [Captain, Autobiography]

Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good / No Jacket. Item #2352922

First edition. Boards lightly rubbed and a bit soiled, edges slightly faded with some loss of gilt from spine titles, owner bookplate on front endpaper, 1 inch split to rear endpaper along hinge but binding holding quite firmly, frontispiece lightly foxed, p. 61 toned as if something was once laid in. This volume is almost always found with heavily foxed pages and significant flaws to the boards and binding; the example here is surprisingly well-preserved in comparison.

407, [1] pp. 8vo. On the title page is a device showing a female warrior, captioned 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' - a slogan the publisher and author likely regretted five years later when the same phrase was intoned by John Wilkes Booth immediately after he assassinated President Lincoln. Dedicated to Wendell Phillips, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry D. [David] Thoreau 'Defenders of the Faithful, Who, When the Mob Shouted, "Madman!" Said, "Saint!". A biography of the controversial figure responsible for the attack on Harper's Ferry designed to foment a slave rebellion. The author was himself a radical abolitionist who made his living as a journalist. Before working for Horace Greeley at the New-York Tribune, he submitted articles to papers in Michigan under the pseudonym 'Berwick.' His account of travels in the American South, entitled The Roving Editor: or, Talks with Slaves in the Southern States, was published the year before this volume, and included the content of interviews with slaves. That work was funded by anti-slavery philanthropist Gerrit Smith. This, the first published biography of John Brown, was announced by the publisher the day after Brown's execution.

Price: $500.00