William Wells Brown

Professional Man of Letters

“Were it not for persons in high places owning slaves, and thereby giving the system a reputation, and especially professed Christians, Slavery would long since have been abolished” (William Wells Brown, Clotel, 1853). Born enslaved in Lexington, KY, William Wells Brown (1814-1884) rose to prominence as part of the first generation to make a living through fiction and other writing in the United States. He lived in England and toured Europe from 1849-1854, in part to give his daughters access to a quality education and in part to avoid capture as a fugitive slave. His novel, Clotel, or, The President’s Daughter (1853) was the first published by a Black American writer, and tells the story of two fictionalized daughters of Thomas Jefferson and Currer, the woman he enslaved. In addition to his autobiography (1847), Brown authored two plays (Experience; or, How to Give a Northern Man a Backbone, 1856; and The Escape, 1858), multiple revised versions of Clotel, a postbellum memoir (My Southern Home, 1880), several songbooks, and at least four works of history focused on the Haitian Revolution and prominent Black figures.

William Wells Brown. The Anti-Slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs. Boston: B. Marsh, 1848.

The anti-slavery harp - title page

Singing was a staple of antislavery events and colored conventions alike. Brown’s Anti-Slavery Harp features lyric poetry paired with suggested popular tunes for accompaniment. Some songs, such as “Emancipation Hymn of the West Indian Negroes,” were intended to be sung at annual events like First of August Celebrations of British West Indian Emancipation.

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William Wells Brown. Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave. Written by Himself. Fourth Edition. Boston: Bela Marsh, 1849. With facsimile of appendix of sale notices, fugitive slave ads, and legal documents.

Narrative of William W. Brown - portrait

“God made me as free as he did Enoch Price [enslaver], and Mr. Price shall never receive a dollar from me, or my friends with my consent.” Brown’s first autobiography was an international hit that went through four U.S. and five British editions over three years. It narrates Brown’s enslavement and multiple escape attempts as he sought freedom for himself and his family. This copy bears an inscription to Samuel May, Jr., from the author.

Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Pamphlet Collection.

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Narrative of William W. Brown - "The author and mother arrested..."
Narrative of William W. Brown - "The author caught by bloodhounds"
Narrative of William W. Brown - "The slave trader Walker..."

William Wells Brown. Original Panoramic Views of the Scenes in the Life of an American Slave. London: Charles Gilpin, 1849.

Original Panoramic Views plays with the popular genre of the panorama. These exhibitions told historical or social narratives through collections of images that filled exhibition halls. Brown’s book describes the images from his own “Panorama of Slavery.” He toured with the large painting across Britain and Ireland. An inscription reads: “Samuel May, Jr., With Writer Regards.”

Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Pamphlet Collection.

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William Wells Brown. The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom: A Drama, in Five Acts. Boston: R. F. Wallcut, 1858.

Brown gave dramatic readings of The Escape as he travelled on the antislavery lecture circuit. The play continues Brown’s exploration of white male enslavers’ predations against enslaved Black women and the tragedies they cause.

Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Pamphlet Collection.

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William Wells Brown. The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements. New York: Thomas Hamilton, 1863.

Brown’s first volume of history offers a series of biographies of prominent Black figures from the United States and Haiti. Though the title emphasizes “The Black Man,” the volume includes women like Phillis Wheatley, Frances E.W. Harper, and Charlotte Forten. Thomas Hamilton published and sold the pamphlet out of the office of The Anglo-African.

William Wells Brown. My Southern Home, or, The South and Its People. Boston: A.G. Brown, 1882.

My southern home, or, The South and its people - house illustration

“They reconstructed the State Governments that their masters had destroyed; became Legislators, held State offices, and with all their blunders, surpassed the whites that had preceded them.” Brown’s final book, My Southern Home (first published in 1880), is part memoir, part study of race and power in the post-Reconstruction South.

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