Frederick Douglass

Due to the advances in technology, some think that books may be a thing of the past. E-books, or books that can be downloaded electronically and read with computers or other devices, have made gains in the marketplace. But will most of us who grew up with a hardcover books ever migrate and/or accept this new format? How do you “curl up” with an e-book?

“Hopes for e-books began to revive last year with the introduction of the widely marketed Sony Reader. Sony’s $300 gadget, the size of a trade paperback, has a six-inch screen, enough memory to hold 80 books and a battery that lasts for 7,500 page turns, according to the company. It uses screen display technology from E Ink, a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that emerged from the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creates power-efficient digital screens that uncannily mimic the appearance of paper.

Sony will not say how many it has sold, but the Reader has apparently done well enough that Sony recently increased its advertising for the device in several major American cities.

‘Digital readers are not a replacement for a print book; they are a replacement for a stack of print books,’ said Ron Hawkins, vice president for portable reader systems at Sony. ‘That is where we see people, on the go, in the subway and in airports, with our device.’ ” (1)

It would be interesting to imagine someone with the prolific writing skills of Frederick Douglass with a computer. What would he think of electronic books? He learned to read and write in Baltimore. Initially, he was instructed by his master’s wife, Mrs. Sophia Auld, on the rudiments of reading the English language.

“The frequent hearing of my mistress reading the bible for she
often read aloud when her husband was absent soon awakened my
curiosity in respect to this mystery of reading, and roused in
me the desire to learn. Having no fear of my kind mistress
before my eyes, (she had then given me no reason to fear,) I
frankly asked her to teach me to read; and, without hesitation,
the dear woman began the task, and very soon, by her assistance,
I was master of the alphabet, and could spell words of three or
four letters. My mistress seemed almost as proud of my progress,
as if I had been her own child; and, supposing that her husband
would be as well pleased, she made no secret of what she was
doing for me. Indeed, she exultingly told him of the aptness of
her pupil, of her intention to persevere in teaching me, and of
the duty which she felt it to teach me, at least to read the
bible.”

Source: My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass, Chapter 10.

When his master learned what his wife was doing, young Frederick’s lessons came to an abrupt halt. But that did not deter his thirst for knowledge. With the assistance of local street children, along with the Webster’s spelling book, he learned how to read.

“I lived in the family of Master Hugh, at Baltimore, seven years,
during which time–as the almanac makers say of the weather–my
condition was variable. The most interesting feature of my
history here, was my learning to read and write, under somewhat
marked disadvantages…

Seized with a determination to learn to read, at any cost, I hit
upon many expedients to accomplish the desired end. The plea
which I mainly adopted, and the one by which I was most
successful, was that of using my young white playmates, with whom
I met in the streets as teachers. I used to carry, almost
constantly, a copy of Webster’s spelling book in my pocket; and,
when sent of errands, or when play time was allowed me, I would
step, with my young friends, aside, and take a lesson in
spelling. I generally paid my tuition fee to the boys, with
bread, which I also carried in my pocket. For a single biscuit,
any of my hungry little comrades would give me a lesson more
valuable to me than bread. Not every one, however, demanded this
consideration, for there were those who took pleasure in teaching
me, whenever I had a chance to be taught by them.”

Source: My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass, Chapter 11.

Reference

(1) Are books passe? Web giants envision the next chapter, International Herald Tribune, 06 September 2007 by Brad Stone.