The Fugitive Blacksmith and Other Essential Writings by James W.C. Pennington
Will be published approx. on 11. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-19-769076-5 (ISBN)
Description
By the early 1850s, the former slave James W.C. Pennington had become an internationally prominent African American minister, abolitionist and reformer. With its scathing analysis of the chattel system, gripping account of his escape, and inspirational story of self-education and conversion to an activist faith, Pennington's autobiography, The Fugitive Blacksmith (1849), found readers on both sides of the Atlantic. Pennington's second major work, A Text Book of the Origin and History of the Colored People (1841), pioneered a new kind of Black history. However, during the Civil War era, Pennington's star declined, and after Reconstruction, he was largely forgotten.
This volume offers the first-ever modern edition of The Fugitive Blacksmith and A Text Book, alongside other selections of Pennington's essential sermons, speeches, and journalistic contributions, and an introduction by the volume editors. The volume provides readers the rich biographical and historical background, as well as the political and intellectual contexts, necessary to appreciate Pennington and his activism. Through these texts, which explore perennial philosophical questions about human nature, the meaning of freedom, and the possibility of a just and inclusive society, we see Pennington in his rightful place as an important part of the Black intellectual tradition in the 19th century.
This volume offers the first-ever modern edition of The Fugitive Blacksmith and A Text Book, alongside other selections of Pennington's essential sermons, speeches, and journalistic contributions, and an introduction by the volume editors. The volume provides readers the rich biographical and historical background, as well as the political and intellectual contexts, necessary to appreciate Pennington and his activism. Through these texts, which explore perennial philosophical questions about human nature, the meaning of freedom, and the possibility of a just and inclusive society, we see Pennington in his rightful place as an important part of the Black intellectual tradition in the 19th century.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
603 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-769076-5 (9780197690765)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Jan Stievermann | Caitlin B. Smith | Eddie S. Glaude
The Fugitive Blacksmith and Other Essential Writings by James W.C. Pennington
Book
approx. 11/2025
Oxford University Press Inc
€100.50
Not yet published
Persons
Jan Stievermann is Professor of the History of Christianity in the U.S. at Heidelberg University. He has written books and essays on a range of topics in the fields of American religious history and American literature, including Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity: Interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana (2016).
Caitlin B. Smith is Assistant Professor of Early American Literature at St. Bonaventure University. She has published multiple journal articles on nineteenth-century American literature and religion, with a special focus on early freethinking societies and constructions of doubt.
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own and We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For. Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University.
Caitlin B. Smith is Assistant Professor of Early American Literature at St. Bonaventure University. She has published multiple journal articles on nineteenth-century American literature and religion, with a special focus on early freethinking societies and constructions of doubt.
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own and We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For. Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University.
Editor
Professor of the History of Christianity in the U.S.Professor of the History of Christianity in the U.S., Heidelberg University
Assistant Professor of Early American LiteratureAssistant Professor of Early American Literature, St. Bonaventure University
James S. McDonnell Distinguished University ProfessorJames S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Princeton University
Content
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
A Chronology of James W.C. Pennington's Life
Introduction
Section 1: Pennington's Autobiography and Writings on His Life
1.1 The Fugitive Blacksmith
1.2 Frederick Douglass on Pennington
1.3 The Story of Pennington's Brother and Nephews
1.4 A Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe
1.5 Petition for Pennington's Honorary Doctor of Divinity to Heidelberg's Faculty of Theology
Section 2: African American History and Destiny; Black Education and Excellence
2.1 A Text Book of the Origin and History of the Colored People
2.2 The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade
2.3. The Destiny of Black People in the United States
2.4
Acknowledgements
A Chronology of James W.C. Pennington's Life
Introduction
Section 1: Pennington's Autobiography and Writings on His Life
1.1 The Fugitive Blacksmith
1.2 Frederick Douglass on Pennington
1.3 The Story of Pennington's Brother and Nephews
1.4 A Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe
1.5 Petition for Pennington's Honorary Doctor of Divinity to Heidelberg's Faculty of Theology
Section 2: African American History and Destiny; Black Education and Excellence
2.1 A Text Book of the Origin and History of the Colored People
2.2 The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade
2.3. The Destiny of Black People in the United States
2.4