Harriet Beecher Stowe

Volume Two of the Harriet Beecher Stowe classic. Originally published beginning June 5, 1851 as a serial in The National Era, an abolitionist weekly published in Washington, DC., Stowe's anti-slavery novel was finished forty-three chapters and one year later. John Jewett's small publishing house published the book on March 20, 1852, a couple of weeks before the serial ended. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and is credited with significantly advancing the abolitionist cause. Its historical impact was so great that it spawned the mythical story that Abraham Lincoln, upon meeting Stowe near the start of the Civil War, was heard to say, "So this is the little lady who started this great war."

Volume One of the Harriet Beecher Stowe classic. Originally published beginning June 5, 1851 as a serial in The National Era, an abolitionist weekly published in Washington, DC., Stowe's anti-slavery novel was finished forty-three chapters and one year later. John Jewett's small publishing house published the book on March 20, 1852, a couple of weeks before the serial ended. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and is credited with significantly advancing the abolitionist cause. Its historical impact was so great that it spawned the mythical story that Abraham Lincoln, upon meeting Stowe near the start of the Civil War, was heard to say, "So this is the little lady who started this great war."

`So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!' These words, said to have been uttered by Abraham Lincoln, signal the celebrity of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The first American novel to become an international best-seller, Stowe's novel charts the progress from slavery to freedom of fugitives who escape the chains of American chattel slavery, and of a martyr who transcends all earthly ties. At the middle of the nineteenth-century, the names of its characters - Little Eva, Topsy, Uncle Tom - were renowned. A hundred years later, `Uncle Tom' still had meaning, but, to Blacks everywhere it had become a curse. This edition firmly locates Uncle Tom's Cabin within the context of African-American writing, the issues of race and the role of women. Its appendices include the most important contemporary African-American literary responses to the glorification of Uncle Tom's Christian resignation as well as excerpts from popular slave narratives, quoted by Stowe in her justification of the dramatization of slavery, Key to Uncles Tom's Cabin. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.