Martin R. Delany: A Documentary Reader

Martin R. Delany (1812-85) has been called the "Father of Black Nationalism," but his extraordinary career also encompassed the roles of abolitionist, physician, editor, explorer, politician, army officer, novelist, and political theorist. Despite his enormous influence in the nineteenth century, and his continuing influence on black nationalist thought in the twentieth century, Delany has remained a relatively obscure figure in U.S. culture, generally portrayed as a radical separatist at odds with the more integrationist Frederick Douglass.

This pioneering documentary collection offers readers a chance to discover, or rediscover, Delany in all his complexity. Through nearly 100 documents -- approximately two-thirds of which have not been reprinted since their initial nineteenth-century publications -- it traces the full sweep of his fascinating career. Included are selections from Delany's early journalism, his emigrationist writings of the 1850s, his 1859-62 novel, Blake (one of the first African American novels published in the United States), and his later writings on Reconstruction. Incisive and shrewd, angry and witty, Delany's words influenced key nineteenth-century debates on race and nation, addressing issues that remain pressing in our own time.

Author: Robert S. Levine
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 02/28/2003
Pages: 520
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.63lbs
Size: 9.62h x 6.22w x 1.19d
ISBN: 9780807854310

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/01/2002 pg. 114
Booklist 12/15/2002 pg. 743

About the Author
Levine, Robert S.: - Robert S. Levine is professor of English and director of graduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. His books include Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, and the Politics of Representative Identity.