A Colored Man Round the World

by David F. Dorr, Malini Johar Schueller (Editor)

This remarkable book, written by former slave David F. Dorr, published in the mid-nineteenth century and only recently rediscovered, is an uncommon travel narrative. In the 1850s Dorr accompanied Louisiana plantation owner Cornelius Fellowes on a tour of the world's major cities, with the promise that when they returned to the United States, Dorr would be given his freedom. When that promise was broken, Dorr escaped to Ohio and wrote of his experiences in A Colored Man Round the World.

Malini Johar Schueller has edited and annotated the 1858 text and added a critical introduction that provides a useful context for understanding and appreciating this important but heretofore neglected document. Her edition of A Colored Man Round the World provides a fascinating account of Dorr's negotiation of the conflicting roles of slave versus man, taking into account all of the racial complexities that existed at the time. As a traveler abroad, Dorr claimed an American selfhood that allowed him mobility in Europe, and he benefited from the privileges accorded American "Orientalists" venturing in the near East. However, any empowerment that Dorr experienced while a tourist vanished upon his return to America.

The book will be welcomed for the rare perspective it provides of the mid-nineteenth century, through the eyes of an African-American slave and for the light it casts on world and U.S. history as well as on questions of racial and national identity.

Malini Johar Schueller is Professor of English, University of Florida.

Genres: Nonfiction, Classics

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 1999

Reviews

[East West Notes · Rating 4 out of 5]

An international travel diary written by an American 'quadroon' slave who later escaped to the north. Includes some very charming descriptions of seeing Queen Victoria, admirations of women and references to classical culture. There are many descriptions of European monarchies which no longer exist and summaries of hotel services and transportation offer a glimpse into another world.

The writing is very clear, but it is very much a 'travel narrative.' It does feel like you're reading somebody's travel notes ('Now we are at...We have just returned from...') rather than a novel. Over the book is a very light read with a lot of humour and character observations.

Despite the descriptions of sexy laundry maids and delicious foods, the formally written dedication is a sad reminder of what the author's life was like back in America:

"To my Slave Mother

Mother! Wherever thou art, whether in heaven or a lesser world; or whether around the freedom Base of a Bunker Hill, or only at the lowest savannah of American Slavery, thou art the same to me, and I dedicate this token of my knowledge to thee mother, Oh my own mother!

-Your David"

[Nina ( picturetalk321 ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for effort, interest and worthiness. But first, the not-so-great aspects:

The prose is terrible. As is the proofreading. Spelling changes from page to page and some words, especially names of towns, are unintelligible. Not good in what is a travelogue. The book is self-published, judging by what it says on the cover. Plus I read the freebie version, transcribed by Project Gutenberg. A redacted, edited version may have fixed much. It could not fix the clunky purple prose, though. Samples:

"The Crystal Palaca is the acquaforte of curiosity that gives the arcadial polish to London'd greatness." (loc138)

Man, on the arrival of spring: "like old Sol from the bed of the sea, in his majesty he shakes himself in all his rising glory, and puts a fiery garb between himself and all the rest of creation, to scorch the temptation that would impede his bright and manly career." (loc1496 - what does this even mean?)

In among the purple, though, there are rare surprising nuggets of observation: the many dogs in Consyantinople, being shot at during the Paris street fighting of 1848, "take a seat among the French girls, au fait, and order your caffee au lait. Then take from your pocket a sou, sit crosd legged and tods it up and down, and turn it over and, look at it" (loc874)

Tedious and unsavoury are also the described encounters with women: he hires a telescope and spies on a woman in an intimate setting; he goes to strip clubs; he accosts women on the street, stalks them, ogles them; at one point, he tries to buy a woman. He is frustrated at the women being hidden away in Athens and veiled in Turkey; I'm thinking: I know why they are, with peeps like you around.

What is interesting? Well, the author is the son of an enslaved woman (to whom the book is dedicated). That gives a poignancy to his travels as a free man, and he frequently dwells on the respect accorded him by nobles and royalty of Europe. He emphasises that the Egyptians were black people and says ot the Acropolis that it is dedicated to the God who "was the Ammon of thr Africans, thr Belus of the Babylonians and the Ossiris of the Egyptians" (loc1269), thereby aligning Africa with ancient Greek civilisation (the pinnacle, as far as the 19th C was concerned). And he seems proud that San Zenone was "a black man, and was the patron of Verona" (loc1379). And he insertd a quote to the effect that all races are equal.

However, his attitude towards the actual black men he meets in his travels is mixed. One is a "large, fat and shiney black African, doing the lazy work -- steering" (a boat, loc1301); another is a buffoonish "very large man" from Tennessee: "He is not a yellow, or black man, but what we call ginger-bread color." (loc1180) He is also very conscious (and semi-proud) of being an American but the moment when he befriends and expresses great respect for a plantation owner from Louisiana is problematic.

I enjoyed reading about places I had been to myself through the eyes of a traveller in the late 1840s, early 1850s. The descriptions of my mother country of Germany were especially fun: its little towns are "spicy" and "fast", with Frankfort on Main "full of high spirited people, and lively as crickets" (loc1186).

All in all, more interesting than good, and mainly interesting as an historical document. I know nothing of author or context, and am writing this review on purpose before doing any googling as a) I am reviewing the book, not other people's research on it, and b) I read this for the Popsugar 2021 challenge, prompt: published anonymously, which in itself would invite not knowing anything about the author.

ETA: I did a quick google search. Turns out that the author was not a free man when he went travelling (as I had thought) but was accompanying his southern-state American enslaver who had "promised" to free him upon their return but who lied and did not free him; the author then escaped to Ohio. So the whole time, the author was terribly and existentially dependent on his enslaved travel companion. This puts another light on many of the incidents described; e.g. it was no doubt the enslaver who went to strip clubs and took the author along. It also makes the whole praise of a plantation owner passage terribly conflicted. What a sad and horrible book this ultimately is. Goodness also knows what terrible story lies behind the verb 'escaped'.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

'In the 1850s Dorr accompanied Louisiana plantation owner Cornelius Fellowes on a tour of the world's major cities, with the promise that when they returned to the United States, Dorr would be given his freedom. When that promise was broken, Dorr escaped to Ohio and wrote of his experiences.'

Most of the time, Dorr recounts his thoughts on art, flirtations, forays into Byron, guidebooks and enjoyment at being able to employ lacqueys etc, as if this plantation owner isn't there at all.

Dorr on the American displays at The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace: ‘I saw everything that was a prevailing disgrace to our country except slaves’

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both steampunks and Afrofuturists will find this interesting.