Cosimo Celebrates Twelve Years a Slave Landmark Oscar with Release of Original Hard Cover Book

Online, March 2, 2014 (Newswire.com) - "So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington—through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man's inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! Hail! Columbia, happy land, indeed!"
- Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave

This is just one poignant quote by Solomon Northup in his classic book Twelve Years a Slave. At the 86th Academy Awards last Sunday, the movie 12 Years a Slave won three Oscar awards, including best supporting actress, best adapted screenplay and, finally, best picture. Especially the last Oscar is a landmark award, the first time the Academy awarded the top honor to the work of a black director, British-born Steve McQueen.

In celebration of this unique book and its award-winning film adaptation, Cosimo Classics is proud to present this memoir of a 19th century free-born African American man, who was kidnapped into slavery, ending up on a plantation in Louisiana, and finally made free again in 1853. Cosimo, a New York based specialty publisher, has released two editions of this classic, the original edition in hardcover and an affordable paperback both with a cover recreated from the original frontispiece.

In announcing this release, Alexander M. Dake, publisher of Cosimo, stated:

"We are happy to congratulate the actors and moviemakers of this incredibly moving and important history, not just of an individual who describes his terrible ordeal but of a critical part of U.S. history which still reverberates around the world today. We are proud to have included the release of Twelve Years Slave in our collection of African American history classics, which includes other important and inspirational titles such as My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglas, The Philadelphia Negro by W.E.B. Du Bois, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs, and many more. The classics in this collection reflect our mission of connecting people with valuable ideas. "

Finally, one more quote from this book by Salomon Northup, which is indisputable in its meaning and powerful in its symbolism: "What difference is there in the color of the soul?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SOLOMON NORTHUP (1808-c. 1875), a free African American from New York who was deceived, drugged, and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C. in 1841. For several years, he was passed around between slave owners before winding up with plantation owner Edwin Epps. There he met Canadian carpenter Samuel Bass, who helped him regain his freedom in 1853. Solomon spent the rest of his life as an abolitionist.

TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE: Original Edition
Cosimo Classics,
African American History/U.S. History
ISBN 978-1616409098
Hardcover, 348 pages, $21.99
and
ISBN 978- 1616409081
Paperback, 348 pages, $7.99