Full title: Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in Boston by John P. Jewett & Company in 1852. First edition. 2 volume set.
Original publisher's presentation/gift binding of red cloth with gilt stamped boards. Gilt page edges. In good condition inside and out.
Adam J. White, quoting @Akhil_Reed_Amar in a review of his new book, Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920, does an excellent job explaining the importance of this book:
". . . most significantly, millions of people read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Mr. Amar writes, “hit America as no novel had ever done before or has ever done since.” She did not present the horror of slavery as a series of facts and figures; instead, she made it a deeply human story and thus made the nation’s final reckoning with slavery unavoidable. When Lincoln met her a decade later, he quipped, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war?”
Stowe is doubly important in this book because she embodies a main theme: the connection between the struggles both blacks and women undertook for equality. Her book elevated the plight of enslaved blacks in the eyes (and consciences) of white Americans. But it also elevated American women. “With its unprecedented reception of Cabin,” Mr. Amar writes, “America at long last placed a woman at the epicenter of national political dialogue—a woman unmistakably highlighting women and women’s issues.” Her novel was about Tom, but, Mr. Amar writes, “it also focused poignantly on fictional females, such as Eliza, Eva, Emily, Cassy, and Lucy.””
We have a very special first edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin in our Rare Finds. It is in excellent condition and would make a prized addition to the collection of anyone who loves the history of this period. — Lee
Size: 7.75" x 5.25"
Shipping: $25. Please allow two weeks for shipping.