Engraving accompanies a fictional episode described in Letter IV, "The 'Purchases' -- Old Joseph." Episode takes place on Christmas Eve in the cabin of the coachman Rafe, the slave seated on the log near the fireplace to the extreme right. Rafe has learned that he will soon be sold, and thus separated from his wife, who sits to his right, and their young child, who rests on her lap. Other slaves cluster around the couple, trying to comfort them. Leaning on his walking stick, Old Joseph (described as "the beau ideal of a patriarch, at once humble, dignified and venerable") stands and faces the group, offering words of wisdom and consolation. Interior is furnished with a bench, a chest of drawers, a large chair, and stools of varying sizes. The men's discarded top hats are placed throughout the room, as are assorted utilitarian and domestic objects, such as pots and pans, an umbrella, and an axe. In the foreground, a book, quite possibly the Bible, rests on a stool., Frontispiece for Emily C. Pearson's Cousin Franck's Household, or, Scenes in the Old Dominion (Boston: Upham, Ford, and Olmstead, 1853)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Creator
Hedge, Franklin, b. ca. 1830, engraver
Date
[1853]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1853 Pear 73222.O frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2792
