Up From Slavery: An Autobiography (1901, Dust Jacket) Booker T. Washington

Up From Slavery: An Autobiography is Booker T. Washington’s seminal 1901 memoir, published by Doubleday, Page and Company. This first edition, first issue comes in the original dust jacket with the “Second Edition” plug at the bottom of the front panel.

The book traces Washington’s journey from enslavement in Virginia, through emancipation and pursuit of education at Hampton Institute, to his rise as a nationally recognized educational leader and founder of Tuskegee Institute. This edition features burgundy gilt-stamped cloth binding, top edge gilt, and a photogravure frontispiece. Copies in the original dust jacket are extremely rare and highly prized by collectors.

Washington’s autobiography is one of the most celebrated and widely read African American literary works, providing firsthand insight into the challenges and strategies of Black advancement in post-Civil War America. Its themes of self-reliance, practical education, and social uplift influenced generations, shaping race relations and American educational theory for decades.

Up From Slavery also features Washington’s famous 1895 Atlanta Compromise speech, cementing his status as one of the era’s most influential Black voices.