1856 1st ED SOUTH PLANTATION NEGRO SLAVEs CIVIL WAR CSA Harriet BEECHER STOWE

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1856 1st ED SOUTH PLANTATION NEGRO SLAVEs CIVIL WAR CSA Harriet BEECHER STOWE:
$112.49

A HIGHLY DESIRABLE (1856) 1st EDITION~FIRST ISSUE PRINT of HARRIET BEECHER STOWE'S DRED, A TALE OF THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP: this exceptionally commanding work was written on the heels of Uncle Tom's Cabin, arguably the most influential work ever written. Both novels famous for there arousing portrayal of slavery. Both would viscerally incite the nation into the deadliest bloody War America has ever seen. Indeed, Uncle Tom's Cabin open the America's eyes to the horror of slavery which sparked a fire of heated conflict; Dred, however was the fuel that ignited a full fledged inferno exploding into the Civil War

"Uncle Tom's sounded the warning, Dred was the battle cry demanding freedom" Inspiring the awe and admiration of abolitionists and the ire of those who defended Slavery

Dred acts in some ways as a response to the intense controversy and criticism that Uncle Tom's provoked. Immediately after its publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin was both loved and hated by both sides. The proslavery side claimed Stowe unfairly depicted human bondage to harshly. While the staunch abolitionist felt the book was not strong enough in its call to immediately end slavery, disliked Stowe's tacit support of the colonization movement, and suggested that Stowe's main character Tom was not forceful enough.

Dred, the titular character, is one of the Great Dismal Swamp maroons, escaped slaves living in the Great Dismal Swamp, preaching angry and violent retribution for the evils of slavery and rescuing escapees from the dog of the slavecatchers.

Through the compelling stories of Nina Gordon, the mistress of a slave plantation, and Dred, a black revolutionary, Stowe brings to life conflicting beliefs about race, the institution of slavery, and the possibilities of violent resistance. Probing the political and spiritual goals that fuel Dred's rebellion, Stowe creates a figure far different from the acquiescent Christian martyr Uncle Tom. Dred, by contrast, introduces a black revolutionary character who is presented as a heir to the American Revolution. Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp was much more forceful than her first novel and advocated an immediate end to slavery.

The real life Maroons

The Great Dismal Swamp Maroons were freed and escaped slaves who inhabited the marshlands of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Although conditions were harsh, research suggests that thousands lived there as early as 1700 right up to the end of the Civil War and Emancipation.

The Dismal Swamp and the Maroons played a major role in the Underground Railroad. The swamp providing a safe haven stop ("Station") for those traving up from the deeper south, while many of the people acted as "Conductors" helping escaped slaves travel by canoe and foot farther north and eventually to freedom. A very risky venture if caught the Maroons faced not only death but a fate many of them deemed worse being forced back into bondaged. So while Dred was fictitious, his brave acts depicted in the book were being done by these real people on a daily basis

The work is also notable for giving testimony of the way in which African Americans were able to not only live but thrive in what was reportedly an extremely harsh and near uninhabitable Environment for over 150 yrs.The novel contains detailed descriptions of the wetlands in the "Dismal Swamp" were these people lived.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was without doubt the most influential and controversial women of the 19th century America. According to legend at the very beginning Civil War, Abraham Lincoln greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862 at the White House by saying: "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."

Born in 1811 into the industrious evangelical Beecher family of Massachusetts, Stowe came of age in unison with the emergence of America's fledgling national consciousness. After receiving an unusually thorough education for a woman of her time, Stowe began her writing life in the thriving frontier city of Cincinnati, winning over readers with her conversational tone, acute observations, pioneering use of dialect, shrewd irony, and unabashed melodrama.

It was while living in Cincinnati(from 1832-1850) that Harriet and her husband encountered first-hand the reality of slavery; bordering the slave state Kentucky, they met escaped slaves and heard stories of their appalling treatment and desperate plight for freedom. There was much public outcry against slavery, the Underground Railroad was formed, pamphlets were published, riots broke out, and mobs tried to wield their power politically, either for or against. In 1839, when Harriet and Calvin learned that their own servant girl, whom they thought was a freed slave, was being hunted by her Kentucky owner, Calvin and Harriet’s brother Henry Ward drove her through the night to a friend’s home to hide.

So Stowe had first hand experience with the slave's plight but also as a woman in the 19th century she could also personally relate. Stowe had no right to vote or to hold office, could not truly own property and was in many respects considered the property of her husband. Yet she gave public voice to her convictions, turned the tide of public opinion and became the most significant American woman of the 19th century. She understood the power of women even in their oppressed state. She is largely considered a poineer of the women's right movement.

Her fearless portrayal of the ruthless break up of the family by slaveholders is largely credited with rousing the fury of every devoted mother in the country.

"I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw, because as a Christian I felt the dishonor to Christianity - because as a lover of my county, I trembled at the coming day of wrath." Harriet Beecher Stowe

Seldom does a work of literature change a society forever Stowe's work not only transformed America but help liberate the whole world. She helped unshackled a whole race and paved the way for all to be considered an equal part of the Human Race. Indeed "Stowe's work has had greater social impact than any before or since"

“DRED, I WILL—I’LL DO AS YOU TELL ME—I WILL NOT BE A SLAVE!”

STOWE, Harriet Beecher. Dred; A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1856. Two volumes. 8vo Volume 1: vi, 329, 6p. ads; volume 2: v, 370p. 8" X 5.5" First editions, First printings.

Condition: Original decorated, dark brown cloth covered boards with gilt text on the spines and blind embossing to the boards with holly like design and yellow endpapers this would delineate both volumes first issue in Binding "A" per BAL 19389: Interior has typical sporadic spotting, foxing and varied toning, there is a coffee spill in volume 2 on pp 249-250 but text remains completely legible. Expected bumping with minor chipping & splitting to spine. Usual wear & rubbing, Gilt title remain bold and discernable. Both volumes also contain the correct points as called for 1st editions First State Prints. First printing of Volume I: in line 3 on page 88, the ascender of the “d” in “dictatorial” almost directly below the vertical stroke of the “r” in the line just above it. First printing of Volume II: “the Dicksons are fewer, and have” in the ninth line up from the bottom of page 370. as called for BAL 19389. A scarce first edition first print in the desirable Binding "A". An incredible find and a worthy acquisition indeed.

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