# Is "Narrative of Sojourner Truth" by Sojourner Truth a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Narrative of Sojourner Truth by Sojourner Truth (Printed for the author, 1850) is identified by: The first edition's title page reads 'Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, in 1828.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first edition's title page reads 'Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, in 1828... Boston: Printed for the Author, 1850,' printed by J.B. Yerrinton and Son of 21 Cornhill
- It is a small octavo of 144 pages issued in original pale-green printed paper wrappers, illustrated with a wood-engraved frontispiece portrait of Truth, and carries a preface by William Lloyd Garrison
- An appendix reprints a portion of Theodore Weld's American Slavery As It Is
- Publisher imprint reads Printed for the author
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sojourner Truth |
| Publisher | Printed for the author |
| Year | 1850 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first edition's title page reads 'Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first edition's title page reads 'Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, in 1828... Boston: Printed for the Author, 1850,' printed by J.B. Yerrinton and Son of 21 Cornhill. It is a small octavo of 144 pages issued in original pale-green printed paper wrappers, illustrated with a wood-engraved frontispiece portrait of Truth, and carries a preface by William Lloyd Garrison. An appendix reprints a portion of Theodore Weld's American Slavery As It Is (1839).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Truth self-published and personally sold this narrative to support herself; do not confuse the plain-wrappered 1850 Yerrinton printing with the much-expanded Narrative of Sojourner Truth; A Bondswoman of Olden Time, drawn from her 'Book of Life,' which is a different, later composite text first issued in 1875.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Narrative of Sojourner Truth* by Sojourner Truth a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/narrative-of-sojourner-truth
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.