Olaudah Equiano - The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

1 COVER

2 TITLE PAGE THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO The Black History Classic OLAUDAH EQUIANO With an Introduction by MICHAEL TAYLOR

3 COPYRIGHT This edition first published 2021 Introduction copyright © 2021 Michael Taylor The material for the Interesting Narrative is drawn from the first edition, published in London in 1789, and in the public domain. Registered office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com . Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 9780857089137 (hardback) ISBN 9780857089151 (ePDF) ISBN 9780857089144 (epub)

4 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION By Michael Taylor In the opening paragraph of his 1789 memoir, the black British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano presents himself as an everyman. ‘I offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a tyrant’, he tells his readers. ‘I believe there are few events in my life which have not happened to many.’ This is entirely wrong. From his earliest years in ‘a charming fruitful vale’ in what is now Nigeria to his retirement as a gentleman, Equiano lived a life of uncommon drama. His story is reminiscent of the eighteenth century's most imaginative picaresque adventures. If The Interesting Narrative were fiction, it might sit alongside Fielding's Tom Jones or Smollett's Roderick Random as an archetype of the genre – and so it was prescient that Equiano's parents named him ‘Olaudah’ (pronounced Oh-lah-oo-dah), which means ‘vicissitudes or fortunate’. ENSLAVEMENT WITNESS OF HISTORY BUSINESS VENTURES AND FREEDOM EMERGING ABOLITIONIST THE NARRATIVE EQUIANO THE CHRISTIAN EQUIANO AND ECONOMICS THE NARRATIVE'S IMPACT AFTERMATH AND LEGACY FURTHER READING NOTE ON THE TEXT NOTE

5 ABOUT MICHAEL TAYLOR

6 ABOUT TOM BUTLER-BOWDON

7 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS

8 VOLUME I I NOTES II III IV NOTES V NOTES VI

9 VOLUME II VII NOTE VIII IX X NOTES XI XII NOTES

10 EXPLANATORY NOTESCHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12

11 End User License Agreement

1 Cover Page

2 Table of Contents

3 Begin Reading

1 ii

2 iii

3 v

4 vi

5 ix

6 x

7 xi

8 xii

9 xiii

10 xiv

11 xv

12 xvi

13 xvii

14 xviii

15 xix

16 xx

17 xxi

18 xxii

19 xxiii

20 xxiv

21 xxv

22 xxvi

23 xxvii

24 xxix

25 xxxi

26 xxxv

27 xxxvii

28 xxxviii

29 xxxix

30 xl

31 xli

32 xlii

33 xliii

34 xliv

35 xlv

36 xlvi

37 xlvii

38 xlviii

39 xlix

40 l

41 1

42 3

43 5

44 6

45 7

46 8

47 9

48 10

49 11

50 12

51 13

52 14

53 15

54 16

55 17

56 18

57 19

58 20

59 21

60 22

61 23

62 24

63 25

64 26

65 27

66 28

67 29

68 30

69 31

70 33

71 35

72 36

73 37

74 38

75 39

76 40

77 41

78 42

79 43

80 44

81 45

82 46

83 47

84 48

85 49

86 50

87 51

88 52

89 53

90 54

91 55

92 56

93 57

94 58

95 59

96 60

97 61

98 63

99 65

100 66

101 67

102 68

103 69

104 70

105 71

106 72

107 73

108 74

109 75

110 76

111 77

112 78

113 79

114 80

115 81

116 82

117 83

118 84

119 85

120 86

121 87

122 88

123 89

124 90

125 91

126 93

127 94

128 95

129 96

130 97

131 98

132 99

133 100

134 101

135 102

136 103

137 104

138 105

139 106

140 107

141 108

142 109

143 110

144 111

145 112

146 113

147 114

148 115

149 116

150 117

151 118

152 119

153 120

154 121

155 122

156 123

157 124

158 125

159 127

160 128

161 129

162 130

163 131

164 132

165 133

166 134

167 135

168 136

169 137

170 138

171 139

172 140

173 141

174 142

175 143

176 144

177 145

178 146

179 147

180 148

181 149

182 150

183 151

184 152

185 153

186 154

187 155

188 156

189 157

190 158

191 159

192 161

193 162

194 163

195 164

196 165

197 166

198 167

199 168

200 169

201 170

202 171

203 172

204 173

205 174

206 175

207 176

208 177

209 178

210 179

211 180

212 181

213 182

214 183

215 184

216 185

217 186

218 187

219 188

220 189

221 191

222 192

223 193

224 195

225 197

226 198

227 199

228 200

229 201

230 202

231 203

232 204

233 205

234 206

235 207

236 208

237 209

238 210

239 211

240 212

241 213

242 214

243 215

244 216

245 217

246 218

247 219

248 221

249 223

250 224

251 225

252 226

253 227

254 228

255 229

256 230

257 231

258 232

259 233

260 234

261 235

262 236

263 237

264 238

265 239

266 240

267 241

268 242