Blight, David W. (Douglass, Frederick)

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

ISBN: 9781416590316
New York, NY, USA: Simon and Schuster, 2018. First Edition. Hardcover. “Throughout the spring morning of April 14, 1876, a huge crowd, largely African American, began to assemble in the vicinity of Seventh and K Streets in Washington, DC. It had been eleven Aprils since the end of the Civil War, and eleven years to the day since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A parade involving nearly every African American organization in the city was about to step off at noon en route to the unveiling of an extraordinary monument to Lincoln. The city had witnessed many remarkable parades since the end of the war, but this one would be different. The day was declared a public holiday in Washington, and flags above the Capitol as well as other government buildings flew at half-mast. At the head of the procession rode a contingent of twenty-seven mounted police, followed by three companies of black militia troops, headed by the Philharmonic Band of Georgetown. Numerous other cornet bands, marching drum corps, youth clubs in colorful uniforms, and fraternal orders from both Washington and Baltimore filled in the long line with pride and pomp. The Knights of St. Augustine carried a large banner with a painting of the martyred Lincoln. Horse-drawn carriages carried, among others, the black, Virginia freeborn professor, and dean of the Howard University law school, John Mercer Langston, who would perform as master of ceremonies, and the orator of the day, a newly arrived resident of Washington, the famed abolitionist and editor Fredrick Douglass, who had grown up a slave across Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Langston and Douglass were soon to become open political and personal rivals, but on this day they joined in one of the most important public events of their lives.”--David W. Blight, pg. 1. David W. Blight (b. 1949) is the Sterling Professor of History, of African American Studies, and of American Studies and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. Previously, Blight was a professor of History at Amherst College, where he taught for 13 years. He has won several awards, including the Bancroft Prize and Frederick Douglass Prize for Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. In 2021, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Offered today is the 2018 work, Fredrick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. A comprehensive biography and analysis of the life of legendary abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), Fredrick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom is a masterful, peerless work of scholarship. From the inside front flap of dust jacket: “Douglass was born a slave and escaped at the age of twenty. He was fortunate to have learned to read as a boy, and he would develop this skill forbidden to slaves to become one of the greatest writers of his era. But first he would make his reputation as the most celebrated orator of the abolition movement. Drawing on personal experiences, including his dramatic escape, he developed a genius with words and held audiences spellbound for hours. He knew his Bible and, like Jeremiah, warned his nation about the moral corruption of slavery. Over his lifetime he wrote three versions of his autobiography, all of which are classics of the slave narrative and of American memoir. He also edited two newspapers and mastered the short-form political essay. This former slave met with Lincoln in the White House and rejoiced in the victory of emancipation. He would become a loyal Republican for the rest of his life, steadfast in his commitment even when challenged during Reconstruction by younger men who accused him of blind allegiance to his party. He saw the promise of Reconstruction dashed by the resistance of former slaveholders and their allies, and he fought this betrayal as eloquently and ferociously as he had fought slavery itself. As a lecturer, he likely reached more listeners than any American of his century.” From the collection of Barbara (1935-2023) & Irving (1933-2018) Nusbaum - world travelers, connoisseurs, eminent collectors of art & books, and the dearly beloved late parents of our esteemed founder, Arthur S. Nusbaum. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket. First edition as stated at copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. Book in very fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges; dust jacket in very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, and light smudging/scratching to front and back covers. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #8553]

Price: $60.00