The Writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Volume 2: Uncle Tom's Cabin

What it is

This is Volume 2 of a sixteen-volume collected edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe's writings, published in 1896 by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. It contains the second half of her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, along with an introduction explaining the novel's history and a "key" explaining its sources.

Why it matters

Published near the end of Stowe's life, this edition shows how her most famous novel was being preserved and explained for later readers. The added introduction and key reveal how publishers and Stowe herself wanted the book's history and impact to be understood.

Look closer

• Why might a publisher add a history and "key" to a novel already decades old?
• What does the chapter list tell you about the story's later events?
• Why would collecting an author's writings into one set matter for how they are remembered?