This is a special bicentennial edition of Douglass' most famous book, which has been published by his direct descendants through Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI). It contains a never-before publicized pencil drawing of Douglass on the cover that was created by his grandson Joseph Douglass. Joseph is the grandfather of Nettie Washington Douglass, who serves as chairwoman for FDFI. She is Douglass' great-great-granddaughter and Washington's great-granddaughter.

The foreword of this edition is written by Kenneth B. Morris, Jr., Nettie's eldest son, who describes in more detail his historical kinship to the Douglass and Washington legacies. Bryan Stevenson, author of the New York Times best-seller Just Mercy, writes a brilliant introduction to this bicentennial edition. In his piece, Stevenson connects the challenges faced by Douglass with the most problematic social injustices of our time such as mass incarceration, racial inequality, and police violence.

The Library of Congress named Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass one of the 88 books that shaped America. Published in 1845, his first autobiography became an instant best-seller, putting his life in danger since he had escaped slavery just seven years earlier. Narrative helped change the course of the US abolitionist movement in the mid-19th century and has been changing the lives of readers ever since.