# Is "The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself" by Josiah Henson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself by Josiah Henson (Arthur D. Phelps, 1849) is identified by: The first edition's title page reads 'The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first edition's title page reads 'The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself
- Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849,' printed by Bolles and Houghton of Cambridge, with the copyright entered by Phelps in the Massachusetts district court
- It is a slim narrative of iv, 76 pages, opening with an unsigned 'Advertisement' vouching for the authenticity of Henson's account, since he was not yet literate when it was dictated
- This 1849 text predates Henson's story becoming associated with Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom after 1852, and it is considerably shorter than his later, expanded autobiographies
- Publisher imprint reads Arthur D. Phelps
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Josiah Henson |
| Publisher | Arthur D. Phelps |
| Year | 1849 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first edition's title page reads 'The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first edition's title page reads 'The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849,' printed by Bolles and Houghton of Cambridge, with the copyright entered by Phelps in the Massachusetts district court. It is a slim narrative of iv, 76 pages, opening with an unsigned 'Advertisement' vouching for the authenticity of Henson's account, since he was not yet literate when it was dictated. This 1849 text predates Henson's story becoming associated with Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom after 1852, and it is considerably shorter than his later, expanded autobiographies.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Do not confuse this 76-page 1849 first edition with the substantially rewritten and expanded Truth Stranger than Fiction: Father Henson's Story of His Own Life (Boston: John P. Jewett, 1858), issued with a new introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe after Uncle Tom's Cabin made his story famous; the 1858 book is a different, later edition, not a reprint of the 1849 text.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself* by Josiah Henson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-life-of-josiah-henson-formerly-a-slave-now-an-inhabitant
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.