Uncle Tom's Cabin

1852

De Beer Eb 1852 S

London: John Cassell

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) wrote her classic anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with a definite purpose in mind. In 1850, she wrote to the editor of the anti-slavery journal, The National Era: ‘I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak... I hope every woman who can write will not be silent.’ First appearing in serial format (for which she was paid $400), the novel was published in 1852. It was extremely popular, and controversial, especially in the South. It sold 10,000 copies the first week. Over the next year, it sold 300,000 copies in America, and over one million copies in Britain. Because there was no international copyright law, the book was pirated. This edition – with George Cruikshank’s illustrations – is a pirate copy, printed by Cassell in London in 1852. Stowe did not receive a penny for it.