Narrative Of The Life Of Henry Box Brown Written By Himself

The life of a slave in Virginia and his escape to Philadelphia.

It is the most celebrated escape in the history of American slavery. Henry Brown had himself sealed in a three-foot-by-two-foot box and shipped from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, a twenty-seven-hour journey to freedom. In Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, Brown not only tells the story of his famed escape, but also recounts his later life as a black man making his way through white American and British culture. Most important, he paints a revealing portrait of the reality of slavery, of the wife and children sold away from him, the home to which he could not return, and his rejection of the slaveholders' religion--painful episodes that fueled his desire for freedom. This edition comprises the most complete and faithful representation of Brown's life, fully annotated for the first time. John Ernest also provides an insightful introduction that places Brown's life in its historical setting and illuminates the challenges Brown faced in an often threatening world, both before and after his legendary escape.

In a moving, lyrical tale about the cost and fragility of freedom, a New York Times best-selling author and an acclaimed artist follow the life of a man who courageously shipped himself out of slavery. What have I to fear? My master broke every promise to me. I lost my beloved wife and our dear children. All, sold South. Neither my time nor my body is mine. The breath of life is all I have to lose. And bondage is suffocating me. Henry Brown wrote that, long before he came to be known as Box, he “entered the world a slave.” He was put to work as a child and passed down from one generation to the next — as property. When he was an adult, his wife and children were sold away from him out of spite. Henry Brown watched as his family left bound in chains, headed to the deeper South. What more could be taken from him? But then hope — and help — came in the form of the Underground Railroad. Escape! In stanzas of six lines each, each line representing one side of a box, celebrated poet Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully narrates Henry Brown’s story of how he came to send himself in a box from slavery to freedom. Strikingly illustrated in rich hues and patterns by artist Michele Wood, Box is augmented with historical records and an introductory excerpt from Henry’s own writing as well as a time line, notes from the author, and a bibliography.

A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist. Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.

"THE UNBOXING OF HENRY BROWN documents the amazing life of Henry Box Brown, whose daring escape from slavery sealed in a box has become a celebrated saga of the Underground Railroad. Based on more than a decade of research in the United States and England, Jeffrey Ruggles tells the dramatic but true story of Brown, an industrial slave in Virginia, an abolitionist activist in New England, and a performer for a quarter-century on the English stage." -- page 4 of cover.

Born in to slavery in 1815 or 1816 on a plantation in Louisa County, Virginia, Henry Brown would work as a slave in Richmond until his daring escape in 1849. In August 1848 Henry Brown's wife and three children were sold to a new master and relocated to North Carolina. Deeply affected by this loss, Brown decided to take the risk of escaping from his bondage. In one of the more creative examples of the escaped slave narrative, Brown, with the help of James C. A. Smith, a free black dentist, and Samuel A. Smith, a white shoemaker, fitted himself in a wooden box and shipped himself on the Adams Express, a railroad package service. After a twenty-six hour journey by wagon, steamboat, rail, and ferry, Brown finally emerged from his box at the Philadelphia office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Following his emancipation, Henry Brown would become an active participant in the abolitionist movement. First published in 1851, the "Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown" relates Brown's life from childhood until his escape. Although not particularly important in the advancement of the abolitionist movement, this work was a commercial success upon its original publication, and remains an important part of the canon of American slave narratives. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

This unique first-hand account of a life in slavery by Henry Box Brown, demonstrates how slavery was unbearable even under the best of conditions. Brown was born a slave in 1816 in Louisa County, Virginia and lived there for thirty-three years. After a childhood of relative ease, he was bequeathed to his master's son, who sent him to work in his tobacco factory under the authority of an unfair, hypocritical overseer. Although his experiences in slavery were comparatively mild, and he was not subjected to physical violence, Brown was not content to be a slave and thus decided to escape. He had himself sealed in a small wooden box and shipped to friends in Philadelphia. His narrative as told to Charles Stearns, was published in 1849 to raise funds so he could purchase freedom for his wife and children.

An award-winning author and illustrator join forces in an emotional retelling of Henry “Box” Brown's famed escape from slavery that is celebrated for its daring and originality.