{"product_id":"uncle-toms-cabin-isbn-9780553212181","title":"Uncle Tom's Cabin","description":"Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American bywords, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of the pre-Civil War South. \u003ci\u003eUncle Tom's Cabin\u003c\/i\u003e was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, \"a man of humanity,\" as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some contemporary critics, it remains a shocking, controversial, and powerful work -- exposing the attitudes of white nineteenth-century society toward \"the peculiar institution\" and documenting, in heartrending detail, the tragic breakup of black Kentucky families \"sold down the river.\" An immediate international sensation, \u003ci\u003eUncle Tom's Cabin\u003c\/i\u003e sold 300,000 copies in the first year, was translated into thirty-seven languages, and has never gone out of print: its political impact was immense, its emotional influence immeasurable.\"Uncle Tom's Cabin is the most powerful and enduring work of art ever written about American slavery.\"\u003cbr\u003e—Alfred Kazin\u003cb\u003eThe Modern Library\u003c\/b\u003e has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torch-bearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone\u003cbr\u003e                    over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the town of P—, in Kentucky.\u003cbr\u003e                    There were no servants present, and the gentlemen, with chairs closely\u003cbr\u003e                    approaching, seemed to be discussing some subject with great earnestness. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    For convenience sake, we have said, hitherto, two gentlemen. One of the parties,\u003cbr\u003e                    however, when critically examined, did not seem, strictly speaking, to come under\u003cbr\u003e                    the species. He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and\u003cbr\u003e                    that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his\u003cbr\u003e                    way upward in the world. He was much over-dressed, in a gaudy vest of many\u003cbr\u003e                    colors, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gayly with yellow spots, and arranged with a\u003cbr\u003e                    flaunting tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the man. His hands, large and\u003cbr\u003e                    coarse, were plentifully bedecked with rings; and he wore a heavy gold\u003cbr\u003e                    watch-chain, with a bundle of seals of portentous size, and a great variety of colors,\u003cbr\u003e                    attached to it,—which, in the ardor of conversation, he was in the habit of\u003cbr\u003e                    flourishing and jingling with evident satisfaction. His conversation was in free and\u003cbr\u003e                    easy defiance of Murray's Grammar, and was garnished at convenient intervals with\u003cbr\u003e                    various profane expressions, which not even the desire to be graphic in our account\u003cbr\u003e                    shall induce us to transcribe. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    His companion, Mr. Shelby, had the appearance of a gentleman; and the\u003cbr\u003e                    arrangements of the house, and the general air of the housekeeping, indicated easy,\u003cbr\u003e                    and even opulent circumstances. As we before stated, the two were in the midst of\u003cbr\u003e                    an earnest conversation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'That is the way I should arrange the matter,' said Mr. Shelby. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'I can't make trade that way—I positively can't, Mr. Shelby,' said the other, holding\u003cbr\u003e                    up a glass of wine between his eye and the light. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Why, the fact is, Haley, Tom is an uncommon fellow; he is certainly worth that sum\u003cbr\u003e                    anywhere—steady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'You mean honest, as niggers go,' said Haley, helping himself to a glass of brandy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'No; I mean, really, Tom is a good, steady, sensible, pious fellow. He got religion at\u003cbr\u003e                    a camp-meeting, four years ago; and I believe he really did get it. I've trusted him,\u003cbr\u003e                    since then, with everything I have,—money, house, horses,—and let him come and\u003cbr\u003e                    go round the country; and I always found him true and square in everything.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Some folks don't believe there is pious niggers, Shelby,' said Haley, with a candid\u003cbr\u003e                    flourish of his hand, 'but I do. I had a fellow, now, in this yer last lot I took to\u003cbr\u003e                    Orleans—'twas as good as a meetin', now, really, to hear that critter pray; and he was\u003cbr\u003e                    quite gentle and quiet like. He fetched me a good sum, too, for I bought him cheap\u003cbr\u003e                    of a man that was 'bliged to sell out; so I realized six hundred on him. Yes, I consider\u003cbr\u003e                    religion a valeyable thing in a nigger, when it's the genuine article, and no mistake.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Well, Tom's got the real article, if ever a fellow had,' rejoined the other. 'Why, last\u003cbr\u003e                    fall, I let him go to Cincinnati alone, to do business for me, and bring home five\u003cbr\u003e                    hundred dollars. 'Tom,' says I to him, 'I trust you, because I think you're a\u003cbr\u003e                    Christian—'I know you wouldn't cheat.' Tom comes back, sure enough; I knew he\u003cbr\u003e                    would. Some low fellows, they say, said to him—'Tom, why don't you make tracks\u003cbr\u003e                    for Canada?' 'Ah, master trusted me, and I couldn't'—they told me about it. I am sorry\u003cbr\u003e                    to part with Tom, I must say. You ought to let him cover the whole balance of the\u003cbr\u003e                    debt; and you would, Haley, if you had any conscience.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Well, I've got just as much conscience as any man in business can afford to\u003cbr\u003e                    keep,—just a little, you know, to swear by, as 'twere,' said the trader, jocularly; 'and\u003cbr\u003e                    then, I'm ready to do anything in reason to 'blige friends; but this yer, you see, is a\u003cbr\u003e                    leetle too hard on a fellow—a leetle too hard.' The trader sighed contemplatively, and\u003cbr\u003e                    poured out some more brandy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Well, then, Haley, how will you trade?' said Mr. Shelby, after an uneasy interval of\u003cbr\u003e                    silence. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Well, haven't you a boy or gal that you could throw in with Tom?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    'Hum!—none that I could well spare; to tell the truth, it's only hard necessity makes\u003cbr\u003e                    me willing to sell at all. I don't like parting with any of my hands, that's a fact.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                    Here the door opened, and a small quadroon boy, between four and five years of\u003cbr\u003e                    age, entered the room. There was something in his appearance remarkably beautiful\u003cbr\u003e                    and engaging. His black hair, fine as floss silk, hung in glossy curls about his\u003cbr\u003e                    round, dimpled face, while a pair of large dark eyes, full of fire and softness, looked\u003cbr\u003e                    out from beneath the rich, long lashes, as he peered curiously into the apartment. A\u003cbr\u003e                    gay robe of scarlet and yellow plaid, carefully made and neatly fitted, set off to\u003cbr\u003e                    advantage the dark and rich style of his beauty; and a certain comic air of\u003cbr\u003e                    assurance, blended with bashfulness, showed that he had been not unused to\u003cbr\u003e                    being petted and noticed by his master.","brand":"Bantam Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305467367653,"sku":"NP9780553212181","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780553212181.jpg?v=1767743195","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/uncle-toms-cabin-isbn-9780553212181","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}