Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (version 2): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (version 2), credited to Frederick Douglass, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (version 2) by Frederick Douglass. Read in English by Jesse Zuba. Published in 1845, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself was written in response to critics who questioned the authenticity of the experiences Douglass drew on as a prominent abolitionist speaker. Douglass begins by describing his earliest memories, including his “entrance to the hell of slavery” through the “blood-stained gate” of his Aunt Hester’s brutal beating, and goes on to tell of his painstaking acquisition of literacy, climactic fistfight with Edward Covey, imprisonment in the wake of a thwarted escape attempt, and flight north, first to New York, where he marries Anna Murray, and ultimately to New Bedford, Massachusetts. A runaway bestseller that sold thousands of copies in just its first few months in print, Douglass’s autobiography is a classic fugitive slave narrative that paved the way for his dramatic career as an enormously influential advocate for civil rights. Summary by Jesse Zuba.

Recording facts

• Recording title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (version 2)
• Author credits: Frederick Douglass
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 15
• Listed recording duration: 4:03:36

Catalogue topics

• slavery
• autobiography
• abolition
• freedom
• slave narrative
• antebellum

Track guide

1. 00 - Preface — 20:35
2. 01 - Letter from Wendell Phillips, Esq. — 6:58
3. 02 - Chapter I — 11:56
4. 03 - Chapter II — 12:41
5. 04 - Chapter III — 9:05
6. 05 - Chapter IV — 9:51
7. 06 - Chapter V — 9:51
8. 07 - Chapter VI — 7:48
9. 08 - Chapter VII — 13:43
10. 09 - Chapter VIII — 11:20
11. 10 - Chapter IX — 12:27
12. 11 - Chapter X: Part I — 34:10
13. 12 - Chapter X: Part II — 39:39
14. 13 - Chapter XI — 30:17
15. 14 - Appendix — 13:15

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.