The oval gilt-stamped cover portrait, additionally seen in silhouette on the rear board, also appears more fully as the book's engraved frontispiece.

It stands apart from her other portraits in revealing a 'greater ease… we might say self-possession' in her facial expression and carriage: one where she presents herself 'as a model for an emancipated, prosperous African American future, a model worthy of emulation' (Grigsby, Enduring Truths, 73-6). The image, personally chosen by her for this edition, is from a photograph taken circa 1864. This especially rare and important 1875 edition of Truth's Narrative stands out as the first to display her favorite and 'most famous' portrait on the front and rear covers, and as its frontispiece. 'A legend in her own time,' she was a tireless fighter against slavery and for women's rights: a figure whose 'indomitable will has won her a permanent place in American history' (Blockson 29). Sojourner Truth is one of the most 'famous African American women of the 19th century' (Painter, Sojourner Truth, 3-4). This exceptional edition is the first to display her favorite and 'most famous' portrait from a carte-de-visite photograph taken circa 1864, personally chosen by her to be featured in the original cloth and as its engraved frontispiece portrait. Rare 1875 edition of Sojourner Truth's powerful account, which inspired a nation with the bold 'evangelic fervor and plain wit' that characterized her moving struggle for freedom and women's rights. Octavo (5-1/4 by 7-3/4 inches), original gilt- and blind-stamped pictorial russet cloth. No place: Published for the Author, 1875.

Narrative of Sojourner Truth A Bondswoman of Olden Time, Emancipated by the New York Legislature in the Early Part of the Present Century With a History of her Labors and Correspondence, Drawn from her Book of Life.

(SLAVERY) (GILBERT, Olive) TRUTH, Sojourner. 'SOJOURNER TRUTH STRIDES THROUGH AMERICAN HISTORY LARGER THAN LIFE': EXCEPTIONAL 1875 EDITION OF THE NARRATIVE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH-THE FIRST TO FEATURE HER ENGRAVED IMAGE ON THE RARE ORIGINAL CLOTH BINDING AND AS FRONTISPIECE, CHOSEN BY HER & BASED ON HER FAVORITE AND MOST ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT

The narrative of sojourner truth book