Book Description

ROPER, Moses. “A narrative of the adventures and escape of Moses Roper from American Slavery”. London, 4th edition Harvey and Darton 55, Gracechurch Street 1842. [x] 120, illustrated, portrait frontis. No copies of the 4th edition dated for 1842 found in Library hub or World Cat. Roper (c. 1815 – April 15, 1891) was an African American abolitionist, author and orator. On his escape from slavery, he reached New York, then Massachusetts and Vermont, and, helped by American abolitionists came to Great Britain, where, following the publication of this harrowing work, he gave thousands of lectures telling of the brutality of slavery in America. Henry Roper, named after his plantation owning father, was born around 1815 in Caswell County, North Carolina. Roper’s mother Nancy was of African American and indigenous descent who had been enslaved and raped by the same man. Roper was later enslaved by several other slave owners in North Carolina and Florida, where after many attempts he managed to escape. Roper wrote that after each recapture, he was tortured at the hands of his enslaver, and the illustrations in the book show some of the methods employed. This work has had some restoration. Significant ink staining has been ameliorated, and the book has been resewn into the original covers, mending some poor earlier repair work. A rare book in commerce.
Author Moses Roper

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