“It is to a great extent, a new book”: Josiah Henson, John Lobb, and the challenges of white editorship of Black texts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Formerly enslaved African American Josiah Henson is well-known for his association with the character of Uncle Tom from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Published in 1852, the literary phenomenon sold millions of copies throughout the nineteenth century, and also made a hero of Henson, who marketed his connection with the novel to great acclaim. However, Henson’s visit to Britain in 1876–1877, his revised edition of his narrative, and the accompanying book The Young People’s Illustrated Edition of Uncle Tom’s Story of His Life (1877) has received scant attention from scholars. This study will be the first to focus on The Young People’s Edition in detail, and how John Lobb, Henson’s benefactor, marketed Henson and his literary work, which demonstrated not only the struggles Black authors faced in a white supremacist environment, but also how activists like Henson managed to retain some sense of authorship over their work.