Engraving portrays an episode described in Northup's narrative. After being kidnapped, Northup was held in Williams' slave pen in Washington City. There, he explained, he was beaten by James H. Burch, a well-known slave-dealer, and Radburn, his lackey. Burch is seen on the left, whipping Northup with a cat-o'-ninetails. ("The cat was a large rope of many strands -- the strands unraveled, and a knot tied at the extremity of each.") Describing the scene in his own words, Northup wrote, "As soon as these formidable whips appeared, I was seized by both of them, and roughly divested of my clothing. My feet, as has been stated, were fastened to the floor. Drawing me over the bench, face downwards, Radburn placed his heavy foot upon the fetters, between my wrists, holding them painfully to the floor. With the paddle, Burch commenced beating me." (p. 44), Illustration in Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1851, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River, in Louisiana (Auburn and Buffalo [N.Y.]: Miller, Orton & Mulligan; London: Sampson Low, Son & Company, 1854), p. 44., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
Creator
Orr, Nathaniel, engraver
Date
[1854]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1854 North 70438.O p 44, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2799
