The Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown

This genre, the slave narrative, created by fugitive slaves, is one that I knew nothing about, but was one that fascinated audiences and often made celebrities out of their authors. Narratives written by escaped slaves were very popular in the mid 1800s as they recounted stories of abuse, cruelty, escape, and their lives as free people in the north.None of these slave narratives was as curious and compelling as that of Henry "Box" Brown, who actually boxed himself up and shipped himself to freedom in 1849, from Virginia to an abolitionist in Philadelphia. Risking death and/or suffocation to be free showed the desperation of the slaves even in a state like Virginia, where cruelty was purported to be less than in other parts of the south. Brown's story showed this not to be true. His escape was motivated by the sale of his wife and children, sent to parts unknown and never seen again. His book was originally written by a Charles Stearns, described as a radical, argumentative ideologue and was written in an overwrought style. Brown fled to England in 1850 when the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. He was a controversial figure, criticized for revealing how he escaped (and profiting from this) rather than sharing it with other slaves who might have used the same method.When Brown got to England, his book was re-written in a more honest and simple style, and the edition that I am reviewing is the American version of that book. The difference is that this book is said to be written in Brown's voice and the lack of turgid prose makes it 20+ pages shorter.I have my doubts if this was Brown's voice...it seems to be the voice of a well-spoken, educated person with a large vocabulary, capable of complex sentence structure and high levels of organization. For example, he writes: "I might perhaps have dragged my chains of quietude to the grave, and have found a tomb in a slavery-polluted land; but thanks be to God I heard the glorious sound and felt its inspiring influence on my heart, and having satisfied myself of the value of freedom, I resolved to purchase it whatever should be the price."Despite this, the book was an incredibly interesting account of Brown's early life, his life as an adult slave, his escape.

We may be thankful that we are no longer producing a particularly American form of literature, the slave narrative. Hundreds of slaves told their stories in the nineteenth century, making some money thereby and striking a blow against slavery when their stories were used as abolitionist tracts. One of the most incredible was the _Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown_ (Oxford University Press). That "Box" as a middle name was adopted by Brown in commemoration of the method by which he gained his freedom. He had himself crated up and shipped from slavery to liberty. His audacious plan worked, and this is his story.Remarkably, this is the first time this edition has been printed in the US. Brown writes in his preface, "The tale of my own sufferings is not one of great interest to those who delight to read of hair-breadth adventures, of tragic occurrences, and scenes of blood - my life, even in slavery, has been in many respects comparatively comfortable." Of course the telling word there is "comparatively." The torture worse than any was worry about his family being sold away, and eventually they were, and he never saw them again. The other main theme in his pre-box narrative is the involvement of the church in supporting slavery, a hypocrisy which revolts Brown, a religious man. The loss of his family convinced Brown to make his remarkable escape: "The idea suddenly flashed upon my mind of shutting myself up in a box and getting myself conveyed as dry goods to a free state." He arranged to have himself nailed into a wooden crate, 37 by 24 by 30 inches, lined in baize. He was shipped by dray, railroad car, steamboat, and horse cart, 350 miles from Richmond to Philadelphia in 27 hours. The box bore the label, "THIS SIDE UP WITH CARE," but shipping agents back then paid as little attention to those directions as they do now, and Brown had to survive some jostling and spells upside down. Philadelphia's Anti-Slavery Committee sent for the box, and opened it nervously at their office. Brown emerged calmly, said, "How do you do, gentlemen?" and fainted. Upon awakening, he sang the fortieth psalm.Brown's narrative ends with his emergence from what could have been his coffin, but the useful introduction by Richard Newman explains that Brown went on the lecture circuit, telling about his slavery experiences and of course his curious escape. He had to flee to England to avoid recapture, and prospered on the stage telling his story. His eventual fate is unknown. However, we have his book now, in as near to his words as we can get, finally published in the land he chastised for restricting it's grand freedoms to slave-holders. His stark account of slave life makes a poignant memoir, and of course his brave (or foolhardy) and novel way of escaping it is thrilling. Students of the Underground Railroad already know of Brown, and this new edition of his book should enlarge his merited fame.