May 1845

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass publishes his first autobiography

The title page did not merely name him. It insisted, in large type, that the book was "Written by Himself."

Boston, May 1845

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself appeared in Boston in May 1845, published at the Anti-Slavery Office at No. 25 Cornhill; the Smithsonian attributes publication to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

The first edition ran to 125 pages excluding preliminary matter and the portrait leaf, and paired an engraved portrait with a reproduction of Douglass's signature.

William Lloyd Garrison supplied a preface and Wendell Phillips a prefatory letter, lending prominent white abolitionist testimony to Douglass's authorship.

Which day in May is unsettled

1 May is the date printed beneath Garrison's preface, and it is often repeated as the release date. It is not a publication statement on the title page.

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site chronology gives 28 May instead.

Only the month is secure.

Naming names while still a fugitive

Douglass published real names and identifiable Maryland locations while he remained legally vulnerable to recapture, converting testimony he had been giving orally into a permanent, attributable record.

Early sales figures differ: a Smithsonian catalogue reports 4,500 copies in four months, while Henry Louis Gates Jr. describes an initial edition of 5,000 selling out in the same period. Some 30,000 copies sold between 1845 and 1860.

Publication did not begin his speaking career — he had been lecturing for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society since 1841.

Sources

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What the sources leave uncertain

May 1845 is well supported, but the exact publication day is unsettled. May 1 is the date printed beneath Garrison’s preface and is often repeated as the release date; it is not a publication statement on the title page.
The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site chronology instead gives May 28, 1845. The safest event date is therefore the month only.
Early sales figures differ: a Smithsonian catalog reports 4,500 copies in four months, while Henry Louis Gates Jr. describes an initial edition of 5,000 selling out in four months.