Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano (born 1745; died 31 March 1797) was the recorded working language is French and English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are autobiography and social criticism. Works named in the authority record are The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
Also recorded as Gustavus Vassa
Olaudah Equiano
Project Gutenberg eText 15399 - http: Author: Uploader: User Tagishsimon on en.wikipedia · Public domain
- Born
- 1745. · Benin.
- Died
- 1797.
- Occupation
- writer, autobiographer, barber, merchant, actor and slave.
- Fields
- autobiography and social criticism.
- Known for
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
- Languages
- French and English.
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Documentary summary
Olaudah Equiano (born 1745; died 31 March 1797) was the recorded working language is French and English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are autobiography and social criticism. Works named in the authority record are The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 1316970833 · wikidata · Q379887 · wikipedia · Olaudah Equiano
In this article
Career and working life
Career and working life
Equiano worked between 1745 and 1797 across writer, autobiographer, barber, merchant and actor. The registers place that work in autobiography and social criticism. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.
Equiano worked as writer, autobiographer, barber and merchant, and the authority record catalogues a further 1 occupations under the same name, among them actor. The fields Equiano worked in include autobiography and social criticism. Equiano worked in French and English.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1745–1797
The full dated record · 4 entries
1745
Olaudah Equiano born at Benin.
1745
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1745) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1797
Dies at City of Westminster.
1797
Olaudah Equiano died at City of Westminster.
Books and published writings, 1790–2024
Catalogued output
Books and published writings, 1790–2024
These are catalogued publications carrying the name — editions and printings, distinct from the works they contain and from writing about the subject. The run opens with The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano and closes with Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Collins Classics). The 2000s are the densest part of the run, with 32 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself. They belong to a run of 71 titles in all, from 1790 to 2024. A selection is set out below and the complete run may be opened beneath it.
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano
1790
69 editions carry dates between 1790 and 2024
The entries follow Open Library
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1791
The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano
1829
The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1829
Equiani's travels
1967
Prentice Hall Literature--The American Experience
1989
The Kidnapped Prince
1994
Black Atlantic Writers of the Eighteenth Century: Living the New Exodus in England and the Americas
1995
Kidnapped Prince
1996
The life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1998
Prentice Hall Literature--Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes--The American Experience
1999
The complete catalogue · 60
69 editions carry dates between 1790 and 2024
The entries follow Open Library
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano
1790
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1791
The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano
1829
The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1829
Equiani's travels
1967
Prentice Hall Literature--The American Experience
1989
The Kidnapped Prince
1994
Black Atlantic Writers of the Eighteenth Century: Living the New Exodus in England and the Americas
1995
Kidnapped Prince
1996
The life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1998
Prentice Hall Literature--Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes--The American Experience
1999
The Sovereignty & the Goodness of God and Interesting Narrative of the Life of
1999
Words of Ages
2000
American captivity narratives
2000
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano and Declaring Rights and
2000
The America A Concise History 2e Volume 1 and The Narrative of the Life of
2001
The Making of the West Volume 2 and Sources of The Making of the West Volume 2 and
2001
Le prince esclave
2002
Interesting Narrative and Other Writings
2003
The American Promise Compact 2e Volume 1 and Interesting Narrative of the Life of
2003
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano and Cherokee Removal and
2003
The Making of the West Volume B and Utopia and Interesting Narrative of the Life of
2003
The America A Concise History 2e Volume 1 and Creating an American Culture and The
2003
The American Promise 2e Volume 1 and The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
2003
The America's History 5e Volume 1 and The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
2003
Life of Olaudah Equiano
2004
American Promise 3e Volume 1 and Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda
2004
America A Concise History 3e and Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
2005
America's History 5e V1 & Going to the Source V1 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
2005
America A Concise History 3e V1 & Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
2005
American Promise 3e Volume A & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
2005
American Promise 3e V1 & Reading the American Past 3e V1 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano & World Turned Upside Down & Envisioning America
2006
American Promise Compact 3e V1 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 2e & Bedford Glossary for U.S. History
2006
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Heart of Darkness 2e & Awakening
2006
Compact American Promise 2e V1 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
2006
American Promise Compact 3e V1 & America Firsthand 7e V1 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2006
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Frankenstein
2006
Victors and Vanquished & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
2006
William Lloyd Garrison & Defending Slavery & Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 2e & Confessions of Nat Turner & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2007
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Louis XIV and Absolutism & Enlightenment
2007
Bedford Anthology of American Literature V1 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2007
Sold as a Slave
2007
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa
2009
Ways of the World V2 & West in the Wider World V2 & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2009
Envisioning America & Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 2e & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2010
Sovereignty and Goodness of God & Our Hearts Fell to the Ground & Victors and Vanquished & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2011
American Promise 4e Volume A & HistoryClass & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e
2011
Pocket Guide to Writing in History 6e & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 2e
2011
Pocket Guide to Writing in History 6e & Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 2e & Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the.. & French Revolution and Human Rights
2011
History of Western Societies 10e V2 & Sources of Western Societies 10e V2 & 1989 Democratic Revolutions & Nazi State & German Society & Olaudah Equiano
2012
The letters and other writings of Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano, the African) documenting abolition of the slave trade
2013
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Volume 2
2014
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Volume 1
2014
The Classic Slave Narratives
2015
Seven Slave Narratives, seven books including
2015
Kidnapped
2016
Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African
2018
The Interesting Narrative
2018
A further 9 recorded entries stand behind this article and are held on the record.
Books and published writings without a settled date
Catalogued output
Books and published writings without a settled date
2 further editions are catalogued under Equiano's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it.
MY EARLY LIFE IN EBOE. LIFE, & C
Further digitised and archival material
Primary material
Further digitised and archival material
A further 58 rows were returned by the same open archives and are not shown here, because the only tie between them and this person was lexical: the name appeared in a title, a description or a series heading without the register stating any relation to Equiano. They are kept in the evidence layer and return the moment a relation is demonstrated. The register's own description is kept rather than reclassified, so a reader can see what each institution says it holds. The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Seventh edition enlarged.
1793
1793
1789: Vol 2
1789
First American edition
1791: Vol 2
1791
The kidnapped prince: the life of Olaudah Equiano
1995
Early Black British writing: Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, and others: selected texts with introduction, critical essays
2004
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vass, the African
2012
1790
1790
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written By Himself
2007
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
institutional register
- Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 125621965
General reference · Bibliothèque nationale de France
- FAST authority file 1817489
General reference · FAST
- GND (German National Library) authority file 119003120
General reference · GND (German National Library)
- IdRef (French universities) authority file 034921176
General reference · IdRef (French universities)
- ISNI authority file 0000000110225228
General reference · ISNI
- Library of Congress authority file n50027909
General reference · Library of Congress
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1316970833, The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
reference work
- “Olaudah Equiano”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Literature
Further cited scholarship
10 scholarly and reference publications are cited here, each one identified by title and by the publication, publisher or institution that carried it, with its year where the register states one. The cited literature runs from 1965 to 2025, which is a measure of how long Equiano has been a subject of scholarship rather than of how much has been written. A further 1 record was returned by the same bibliographic registers without enough detail to be cited as a reference — no usable title, or neither a publication nor a date — and it is held in the evidence layer rather than presented here as scholarship. The Encyclopedia cites this literature and does not summarise the arguments of works it has not read in full.
Struggle for Freedom in Olaudah Equiano’s the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, RA JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH, 2025
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the African, Milestone Documents of Christianity, 2024
Equiano, Olaudah: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL), 2020
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 2013
“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, ” Olaudah Equiano, 1789, Let Nobody Turn Us Around, 2009
Equiano, Olaudah [Gustavus Vassa] (c
1745–1797), author and slavery abolitionist, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Olaudah Equiano, Accidental Tourist, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 1994
The Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African, African Historical Studies, 1971
Gustavus Vasas Liv Berättat Av Honom Själv: Olaudah Equiano eller Gustavus Vasa, Afrikanen
(Original Title: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vasa, the African, Written by Himself) by Signe Höjer (review), Swedish-American Studies, 1965
Authority records
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
institutional register
Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 125621965Bibliothèque nationale de France
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Secondary witnessauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1316970833, The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
GND (German National Library) authority file 119003120GND (German National Library)
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
IdRef (French universities) authority file 034921176IdRef (French universities)
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Library of Congress authority file n50027909Library of Congress
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Secondary witness
Every cited source · 10
- 01
Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 125621965
institutional register · General reference · Bibliothèque nationale de France
Consult the source - 02
- 03
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1316970833, The life and adventures of Olaudah Equiano.
authority file · General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Consult the source - 04
GND (German National Library) authority file 119003120
institutional register · General reference · GND (German National Library)
Consult the source - 05
IdRef (French universities) authority file 034921176
institutional register · General reference · IdRef (French universities)
Consult the source - 06
ISNI authority file 0000000110225228
institutional register · General reference · ISNI
Consult the source - 07
Library of Congress authority file n50027909
institutional register · General reference · Library of Congress
Consult the source - 08
- 09
Wikidata, structured authority record Q379887: Olaudah Equiano
institutional register · General reference · Wikimedia Foundation
Consult the source - 10
“Olaudah Equiano”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
reference work · Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Consult the source
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the heading Gustavus Vassa. His recorded languages were French, English and Igbo. One child is recorded: Joanna Vassa. Work and production. One work is recorded as notable: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. His recorded genres are autobiography and social criticism.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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