Nights with Uncle Remus: Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation by Joel Chandler Harris

First Edition 

Nights with Uncle Remus: Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation by Joel Chandler Harris

Houghton Mifflin, Boston 1883

Hardcover, Very good condition with some wear to spine.

Uncle Remus, the beloved storyteller, narrates a group of tales based on the oral traditions of African American slaves and Creek Indians. Harris wrote in a style that was his interpretation of the Deep South African American vernacular. This has been the topic of much critical discourse and controversy. 

Joel Chandler Harris grew up in the South, raised by his Irish immigrant mother, and never knowing his father. His love of reading was instilled in him from a young age, listening to his mother read to him. He was shy and insecure about his Irish background, red hair, and not having a father. He used humor as a way to mask his shyness and was considered somewhat of a trouble maker in school. 

At 14, he quit school to work and was hired to work for The Countryman, one of the larger Southern newspapers owned by Joseph Addison Turner. He worked for clothing, room, and board, living at Turnwold Plantation. Harris was encouraged to use the plantation library by Turner, an eccentric intellectual. When not in the library, Harris spent most of his time in the slaves quarters, where he felt less self-concious about his humble background and Irish roots. It was there that he absorbed the stories, language, and inflections of Uncle George Terrell, Old Harbert, and Aunt Crissy. The stories shared and the storytellers became to foundation for Hariss’ Uncle Remus tales. As well as role models in life.