"Scene in the Slave Pen at Washington." From "Twelve Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup. Auburn: Derby and Miller, 1853. First edition. First printing
This is the story of a free black citizen of Saratoga, New York who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841, trapped in a system of brutal subjugation and rescued in 1853 from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana. Northup’s powerful and insightful memoir was published just three months after his liberation and it stunned the nation. It is among the most detailed and accurate firsthand accounts of slavery in America. Northup’s slave narrative was the basis for the film “Twelve Years a Slave” which won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture.
The seven wood engravings in Northup's book are by Nathaniel Orr, based on illustrations by Frederick M. Coffin.
Solomon Northup was a renowned fiddler so, at the end of “Twelve Years a Slave,” he included the tune to “Roaring River – A Refrain of the Red River Plantation.” It invited his nineteenth-century readers to engage with his story in some small way by performing the tune. Here is a link to that page in the book:
pastispresent.org/wp-content/uploads/199111_0007.jpg
A twenty-first-century movie-goer was inspired to read the book and perform that old-time plantation tune. Here is a link to his musical performance:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LApDW18pfO0
For more information, check out the American Antiquarian Society Blog at:
pastispresent.org/2014/good-sources/twelve-years-a-slave-...
"Scene in the Slave Pen at Washington." From "Twelve Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup. Auburn: Derby and Miller, 1853. First edition. First printing
This is the story of a free black citizen of Saratoga, New York who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841, trapped in a system of brutal subjugation and rescued in 1853 from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana. Northup’s powerful and insightful memoir was published just three months after his liberation and it stunned the nation. It is among the most detailed and accurate firsthand accounts of slavery in America. Northup’s slave narrative was the basis for the film “Twelve Years a Slave” which won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture.
The seven wood engravings in Northup's book are by Nathaniel Orr, based on illustrations by Frederick M. Coffin.
Solomon Northup was a renowned fiddler so, at the end of “Twelve Years a Slave,” he included the tune to “Roaring River – A Refrain of the Red River Plantation.” It invited his nineteenth-century readers to engage with his story in some small way by performing the tune. Here is a link to that page in the book:
pastispresent.org/wp-content/uploads/199111_0007.jpg
A twenty-first-century movie-goer was inspired to read the book and perform that old-time plantation tune. Here is a link to his musical performance:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LApDW18pfO0
For more information, check out the American Antiquarian Society Blog at:
pastispresent.org/2014/good-sources/twelve-years-a-slave-...