Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown

After enduring the tragic separation from his wife and children, who were sold to a plantation owner in distant North Carolina, Henry Brown became determined to escape slavery. He had himself shipped in a wooden box to the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia. Against all odds, he arrived safely on March 24, 1849. Brown commemorated his harrowing twenty-seven-hour journey by assuming the middle name “Box” and publishing this autobiographical account, which became a classic among slave narratives. The frontispiece recreates his dramatic emergence from the wooden box that nearly became his coffin. Brown later traveled through the United States and Britain as a public speaker and magician.