FIRST EDITION, 1789
London, 2vols.:  Printed for and sold by the author, no. 10, Union-Street, Middlesex Hospital; sold also by Mr. Johnson, St. Paul's Church-Yard; Mr. Murray, Fleet-Street; Messrs. Robson and Clark, Bond-Street; Mr. Davis, opposite Gray's Inn, Holborn; Messrs. Shepperson and Reynolds. and Mr. Jackson, Oxford-Street; Mr. Lackington, Chiswell-Street; Mr. Mathews, Strand; Mr. Murray, Prince's-Street, Soho; Mess. Taylor and Co. South Arch, Royal Exchange; Mr. Button, Newington-Causeway; Mr. Parsons, Paternoster-Row; and may be
had of all the booksellers in town and country, 1789.


SECOND EDITION, 1789
London, 2vols. Printed for and sold by the author, 1789.


THIRD EDITION, 1790
London: Printed for and sold by the author, 1790.


THIRD EDITION [ENLARGED], 1790
London: Printed for and sold by the author, 1790.


NEW YORK EDITION, 1791
New-York: Printed and sold by W. Durell, 1791, first American edition.


FOURTH EDITION, 1791
Dublin: Printed for and sold by the author, 1791.


FIFTH EDITION, 1792
Edinburgh: Printed for and sold by the author, 1792.


SIXTH EDITION, 1793
London: Printed for and sold by the author ; & G.G.J. & J. Robinson, Paternoster-Row ; and by Charles Stalker, Stationers-Court, Ludgate-Street, London, 1793 enlarged.


SEVENTH EDITION, 1793
London: Printed for and sold by the author, 1793.


EIGHTH EDITION, 1794
Norwich: Printed for and sold by the author, 1794.


NINTH EDITION
London: Printed for and Sold by the Author, 1794.


1809 EDITION
Belper, England: Printed and published by S. Mason and sold by Tipper and Crosby, 1809.

1813 EDITION
Halifax, England: Printed at the Office of J. Nicholson & Co., 1813 to which are added poems on various subjects, by Phillis Wheatly.


1814 EDITION
Leeds: J. Nichols; London, Cradock and Joay, 1814 new edition corrected.


1815 EDITION
Penryn: W. Cook, 1815


1819 EDITION
Halifax, England: M. Garlick, 1819 to which are added poems on various subjects, by Phillis Wheatly.


1829 EDITION
New York: Samuel Wood & Sons, No. 261 Pearl-street B. & G. S. Wood, Printers, 1829, abridged by A. Mott, to which are added some remarks on the slave trade.


1837 EDITION
Boston: I. Knapp, 1837.

Excerpts, Abridgements, & Adaptations

1826 [EXCERPTS]
New York: Printed and Sold by Mahlon Day, No. 376, Pearl-street, 1826, excerpts printed as quotations in 37 numbered paragraphs under the heading “A Sketch of the Life of Gustavus Vassa, taken from his narrative, written about the year 1787,”  p. 55-64 in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces of Poetry, compiled by A. Mott. 


York: Printed and Sold by W. Alexander & Son (Castlegate); Harvey & Darton; W. Phillips, E. Fry, and W. Darton (London); R. Peart (Birmingham); D. F. Gardiner (Dublin), excerpts printed as quotations in 37 numbered paragraphs under the heading “A Sketch of the Life of Gustavus Vassa, taken from his narrative, written about the year 1787,”  p. 80-94 in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces of Poetry, compiled by A. Mott. 


1828 [SECOND EDITION, EXCERPTS]
York: Printed and Sold by W. Alexander & Son (Castlegate), excerpts printed as quotations in 37 numbered paragraphs under the heading “A Sketch of the Life of Gustavus Vassa, taken from his narrative, written about the year 1787,” in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces of Poetry, compiled by A. Mott. 


1829 [ABRIDGEMENT]
London: Bagster and Thoms, 1829, The Negro’s Friend; containing the Entertaining and Affection History of Gustavus Vassa from a Narrative written by Himself 


New York: Samuel Wood & Sons, No. 261 Pearl-street B. & G. S. Wood, Printers, 1829, abridgement by A. Mott.


London: Sold by Harvey and Darton; Westley and Davis; Houlston and Son; and other booksellers, 1829, The Negro’s Friend; containing the Entertaining and Affection History of Gustavus Vassa from a Narrative written by Himself . No. 3.


1830 [ABRIDGEMENT]
London: Sold by Harvey and Darton; Westley and Davis; Houlston and Son; and other booksellers, 1830, The Negro’s Friend; containing the Entertaining and Affection History of Gustavus Vassa from a Narrative written by Himself. Second Edition. No. 3.

1837 [EXCERPTS]
New York: Mahlon Day, 374 Pearl-street, 1837, “A Sketch of the Life of Gustavus Vassa, taken from his narrative, written about the year 1787,” in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces of Poetry. Second Edition, much Enlarged, compiled by A. Mott. 


1839 [ABRIDGEMENT]
Manchester: William Irwin, 39, Oldham Street, 1839, version “condensed from various edition of his narrative” (p. 193) printed on p. 193-239 in Wilson Armistead’s compendium A Tribute for the Negro: Being a Vindication of the Moral Intellectual, and Religious Capabilities of the Colored Portion of Mankind; with Particular Reference to the African Race.


New York: Stereotyped for and printed by order of the Trustees of the residuary estate of Lindley Murray. M. Day, Printer, 271 Pearl St., 1839, “Gustavus Vasa. Taken from his Narrative, written about the year 787,” printed as 43 numbered paragraphs on p. 119-132 in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces in Poetry, compiled by A. Mott.


1848 [ABRIDGEMENT]
Manchester: William Irwin, 39, Oldham Street, 1848, version “condensed from various edition of his narrative” (p. 193) printed on p. 193-239 in Wilson Armistead’s compendium A Tribute for the Negro: Being a Vindication of the Moral Intellectual, and Religious Capabilities of the Colored Portion of Mankind; with Particular Reference to the African Race.


1850 [ABRIDGEMENT]
New York: Stereotyped for and printed by order of the Trustees of the residuary estate of Lindley Murray. M. Day, Printer, 271 Pearl St., 1850, “Gustavus Vasa. Taken from his Narrative, written about the year 787,” printed as 43 numbered paragraphs on p. 119-132 in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces in Poetry, compiled by A. Mott.


1854 [ABRIDGEMENT]
New York: Stereotyped for and printed by order of the Trustees of the residuary estate of Lindley Murray. M. Day, Printer, 271 Pearl St., 1854, “Gustavus Vasa. Taken from his Narrative, written about the year 787,” printed as 43 numbered paragraphs on p. 119-132 in Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To Which Is Added, a Selection of Pieces in Poetry, compiled by A. Mott.


1997 [EXCERPTS]
New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 1997, Extracts “From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself” with introduction and annotations on p. 138-164 of The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay.


2000 [EXCERPTS]
New York: Doubleday, 2000, Excerpt “From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa. Written by Himself” printed on p. 22-28 in Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those who Lived It, edited by Herb Boyd.


Tokyo: 日本図書センター, Nihon Tosho Senta, 2000, Excerpt from Second Edition of the Interesting Narrative printed in 有色人に関する伝記的資料 / Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color. To which is added, a Selection of Pieces in Poetry, compiled by A. Mott.  


Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000, Extracts “From The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vasa the African, Written by Himself” in Anthology of American Literature, Seventh Edition, Volume I: Colonial through Romantic, edited by George McMichael and others.


2002 [EXCERPTS]
New York: Signet Classics, 2002, Excerpts from the Leeds Edition (1814) of the Interesting Narrative in The Classic Slave Narratives, edited with an introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.


New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, Extracts  “From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African” printed, with new introduction and annotations, on p. 912-927 in the anthology Early American Writings, edited by Carla Mulford, Angela Vietto, and Amy E. Winans.


2003 [EXCERPTS]
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003, Excerpts from the Interesting Narrative with new introductory note, on p. 54-80 in Black Writers in Britain, 1760-1890: An Anthology, edited by Paul Edwards and David Dabydeen.


2004 [EXCERPTS]
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004, Extracts “From The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African: written by himself” printed in Early Black British Writing: Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, and others: Selected texts with introduction, critical essays, edited by Alan Richardson and Debbie Lee.


New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004, Extracts “From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself,” second edition, printed with introduction and annotations on p. 187-213 of The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. 


2012 [EXCERPTS]
New York: Signet Classics, 2012, Excerpts from the Interesting Narrative in The Classic Slave Narratives, edited with an introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.


2014 [EXCERPTS]
New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2014, Extracts “From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself” printed with introduction and annotations in vol. 1 of The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay. 


2016 [EXCERPTS]
New York: Signet Classics, 2016, Excerpts from the Interesting Narrative in The Classic Slave Narratives, edited with an introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Modern Editions

Equiano’s Travels: His Autobiography; The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African, abridged and edited by Paul Edwards (London: Heinemann, 1967).


The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa the African, reprinted with a new introduction by Paul Edwards, Colonial History Series, facsimile of the first edition (London: Dawson, 1969).


The Life of Olaudah equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, reprint of 1837 Boston edition (New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano in The Classic Slave Narratives edited with an introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., reprint of 1814 Leed’s edition (New York: Mentor, 1987).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself, edited with an introduction by Wilfred D. Samuels (Miami, FL: Mnemosyne Pub Co, 1988).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself, edited with an introduction by Paul Edwards (Harlow and White Plains, NY: Longman, 1989).


The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by himself. (Florida: Mnemosyne Pub. Co., 1989).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself, edited with an introduction by Robert J. Allison, reprint of 1791 New York edition (Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995).


The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, edited with an introduction and notes by Vincent Carretta (London and New York: Penguin, 1995).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself, diplomatic reprint of 1814 edition with new introduction, bibliographical note, and annotations, p. 159-268 in Black Atlantic Writers of the Eighteenth Century: Living the New Exodus in England and the Americas, edited by Adam Potkay and Sandra Burr (New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1995).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself, diplomatic reprint of 1814 edition with new introduction, bibliographical note, and annotations, p. 159-268 in Black Atlantic Writers of the Eighteenth Century: Living the New Exodus in England and the Americas, edited by Adam Potkay and Sandra Burr (Basingstoke and London: Macmillan, 1995).


The African: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (London: Black Classics, 1998).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by himself, in Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and William L. Andrews, eds., Pioneers of the Black Atlantic: Five Slave Narratives from the Enlightenment, 1772-1815, reprint of 8th edition (Washington DC: Civitas, 1998), pp. 182-365.


The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, reprint of 1814 Leed’s edition (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1999).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by himself, in William L. Andrews and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed., Slave Narratives (New York: The Library of America, 2000).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by himself, in Werner Sollors, ed., reprint of 1st edition (New York: Norton Critical Editions, 2001).


Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, in Angelo Costanzo, ed., reprint of 1st edition (New York: Broadview Literary Texts, 2001).


The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by himself, edited by Angelo Costanzo (Peterborough, ON: Broadviews; Hertforshire: Turpin Distribution Co., 2002).


The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, edited with an introduction and notes by Vincent Carretta, reprint of 9th edition (London and New York: Penguin, 2003).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, edited by Shelly Eversley with an introduction by Robert Reid-Pharr, reprint of 9th edition (New York: Random House Modern Library, 2004).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Radford: Wilder Publications, 2012).


The Interesting Narrative, edited with an introduction, notes, and index by Brycchan Carey
(Oxford: Oxford University Press World’s Classics, 11 January 2018).


The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by himself, vol. I & II, edited with an introduction by Arthur Torrington (Birmingham: The Equiano Society, 2020).

Translations into Other Languages

Dutch: Merkwardige Levensgevallen van Olaudah Equiano of Gustavus Vassa, den Afrikaan
(Rotterdam: Pieter Holsteyn, 1790).


French (1983): La veridique histoire par lui meme d'Olaudah Equiano, Africain, esclave aux Caraïbes, homme libre.  Introduction abregee de Paul Edwards; avant-propos de Elika M’Bokolo; traduit de l’anglais par Claire-Lise Charbonnier (Paris: Editions Caribéenes, 1983).


French (2002): Olaudah Equiano ou Gustavus Vassa l'Africain: le passionnant récit de ma vie, Mfoumou-Arthur, Régine, éd, (Paris: L' Harmattan, 2002).


French (2002): Le prince esclave: une histoire vraie.  Adaptée par Ann Cameron (Paris: Rageot, 2002).


French (2008): Ma véridique histoire: Africain, esclave en Amérique, homme libre (Paris: Mercure de France, 2008).


French (2008): Le prince esclave: une histoire vraie.  Adaptée par Ann Cameron (Paris: Rageot, 2008).


French (2017): Ma véridique histoire: Africain, esclave en Amérique, homme libre (Paris: Mercure de France, 2017).


French (2017): Le prince esclave: une histoire vraie.  Adaptée par Ann Cameron (Paris: Rageot, 2017).


German (1792): Olaudah Equiano’s oder Gustav Vasa’s, des Afrikaners merkwurdige Lebensgeschichte (Gottingen: Bey Johann Christian Dietrich, 1792).


German (1990): Merkwürdige Lebensgeschichte des Sklaven Olaudah Equiano (Frankfurt am Main: Insel-Verl., 1990).


Greek: Το ενδιαφέρον αφήγημα της ζωής του ΟλÏŒντα Εκουιάνο, αφρικανού σκλάβου στην Αμερική, ελεύθερου ανθρÏŽπου (Athens: ΑσβÏŒς, 2009).


Hebrew: אולודה אקיאנו, הסיפור המעניין של חיי אולודה אקוויאנו או גוסטבוס ווסה, האפריקני (רעננה: האוניברסיטה הפתוחה של ישראל, 2018)


Italian: L'incredibile storia di Olaudah Equiano, o Gustavus Vassa, detto l'Africano (Milan: Epoché, 2008).


Russian (1794): Zhizn´ Olaudakha Ek¯iano (St. Petersburg, 1794).


Russian (1794): Žizn' Olaudacha Èkiano, ili Gustava Vazy Afrikanskago, rodivšegosja v 1745 godu, im samim pisannaja: soderžašÄaja istoriju jego vospitanija meždu Afrikanskimi narodami... so mnogimi trogatel'nymi i ljubopytnymi anekdotami i s prisovokuplenijem gravirovannago jego portreta. (Moscow, 1794)


Spanish (1980): Los viajes de Equiano. (La Habana: Editorial Arte y Literatura, 1980).


Spanish (1994): La interesante narración de Olaudah Equiano, o Gustavus Vassa, El Africano, escrita por si mismo (Léon, Secretariado de Publicaciones, 1994).


Spanish (1999): Narración de la vida de Olaudah Equiano, el africano, escrita por él mismo: autobiografía de un esclavo liberto del S. XVIII, edición de Celia Montolío (Madrid: Miraguano Ediciones, 1999).


Swedish (1964): Berättelsen om Olaudah Equiano eller Gustavus Vasa Afrikanen (Stockholm: Tidens Forlag, 1964).


Swedish (1998): Gustavus Vassa, afrikanen: en slavs berättelse (Stockholm: Ordfront, 1998).


Swedish (2005): Jag, slaven Gustavus Vassa (Stockholm: LL-Förlaget, 2005).