Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself is an autobiography by Harriet Jacobs, a mother and fugitive slave, published in 1861 by L. Maria Child, who edited the book for its author. Jacobs used the pseudonym Linda Brent. The book documents Jacobs's life as a slave and how she gained freedom for herself and for her children. Jacobs contributed to the genre of slave narrative by using the techniques of sentimental novels "to address race and gender issues." She explores the struggles and sexual abuse that female slaves faced as well as their efforts to practice motherhood and protect their children when their children might be sold away.
Frontispiece of the first edition
Harriet Jacobs, 1894
An 1862 pirated British edition, with an image on the cover of Harriet Jacobs hiding in the attic as a slavecatcher confronts her grandmother.
Harriet Jacobs was an African-American abolitionist and writer whose autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent, is now considered an "American classic".
Jacobs's only known formal photograph, 1894
St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Edenton, where Harriet Jacobs and her children were baptized, and where both Dr. Norcom and Molly Horniblow were communicants
Dr. James Norcom
Reward notice issued for the return of Harriet Jacobs