I was brought up in [Kentucky]. Or, more correctly speaking, I was flogged up; for where I should have received moral, mental, and religious instruction I received stripes without number, the object of which was to degrade and keep me in subordination. I have been dragged down to the lowest depths of human degradation and wretchedness, by Slaveholders.—Henry Bibb.

First published in 1849 and long unavailable, this remarkable narrative records the life of a former slave, who, in 1825—at the age of ten—made his first attempt to escape from slavery. Eventually successful in gaining his freedom, Henry Bibb received an abbreviated education and joined the antislavery movement. His absorbing autobiography describes slave folkways in detail, tells of desperate efforts to recover his wife and child, and presents a touching self-portrait of a man caught between a slave past and a free future.

Invaluable to students and scholars of . . . African-American literary tradition.—Author Christopher De Santis

A compelling narrative of escape and recapture, of love and renunciation.—Editor William L. Andrews