Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly (The People's Library)

London, UK : Cassell and Company, 1908 Cassell and Company, London, UK. 1908. Hardcover. Reprint edition. #54 in The People's Library Series by Cassell. Book is tight, square, and unmarked but for a bookplate on the front pastedown and a stamp on the FFFP for C.L. Danner, Agent, R.R. Steam Ship Tickets and Tours Agency. Book Condition: Very Good +; light fading to spine; light shelfwear; light soiling to boards; glue browning to endpapers. No DJ. Red cloth boards and spine with bright gilt lettering and decorations on the spine; embossed icon on the front board (The icon in the lower right on the front board contains the text La Belle Sauvage, which was the name of the former inn occupied by Cassell & Co. soon after its founding in 1851). Clean internals. Interior hinges are sound and not split or cracked. 426 pp 12mo. The book opens on the Shelby plantation in Kentucky as two enslaved people, Tom and 4-year old Harry, are sold to pay Shelby family debts. Developing two plot lines, the story focuses on Tom, a strong, religious man living with his wife and three young children, and Eliza, Harry’s mother. When the novel begins, Eliza’s husband George Harris, unaware of Harry’s danger, has already escaped, planning to later purchase his family’s freedom. To protect her son, Eliza runs away, making a dramatic escape over the frozen Ohio River with Harry in her arms. Eventually the Harris family is reunited and journeys north to Canada. Tom protects his family by choosing not to run away so the others may stay together. Upon being sold south, he meets Topsy, a young black girl whose mischievous behavior hides her pain; Eva, an angelic, young white girl who is wise beyond her years; charming, elegant but passive St. Clare, Eva’s father; and finally, cruel, violent Simon Legree. Tom’s faith gives him the strength which carries him through years of suffering. The novel ends when both Tom and Eliza escape slavery: Eliza and her family reach Canada, but Tom’s freedom only comes in death. Simon Legree has Tom whipped to death for refusing to deny his faith or betray the hiding place of two fugitive women. A clean very presentable copy.