Dred; A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp

Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1856. First edition; Second Printing. Hardcover. Good. 2 vol. 8vo. [3], iv-vi, [1], 8-329, [1], [6] (pages of publisher's advertisements) [2]; [3], iv-v, [2], 6-370, [2] pp. Brown publisher's cloth with decorations in blind on the boards, gilt lettering on the spines. Yellow endpapers and pastedowns. BAL 19389. The University of North Carolina, Documenting the American South, "Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp". Wright II 2391. Our set contains the first printing, first edition of volume one, with the correct alignment on page 88. Our volume one is in binding A, with blank yellow endpapers and pastedowns. Our volume one has the battered text on page 209. Our volume two is the second printing with "the Dickinsons and the Ruskins" on the final leaf. Our volume two's binding is the same as that of our volume one but has publisher's advertisements printed on its endpapers and pastedowns. Stowe's second antislavery novel, informed by contemporary criticisms of her previous work, Uncle Tom's Cabin. In this novel Stowe condemns the institution of slavery, rather than individual enslavers. Two court cases dominate the plot: Stowe portrays how the law in the American south was used to oppress Black individuals. The author also explores the setting of swamps and how they concealed those who escaped enslavement. Dred constitutes a multi-faceted examination of one of the greatest travesties of American history. General wear to spines' crowns and heels, and a small puncture to the rear board of volume one. Volume one with a dampstain to its title page and a few faint red pencil marks.