The publisher of this book utilises modern printing technologies as well as photocopying processes for reprinting and preserving rare works of literature that are out-of-print or on the verge of becoming lost. This book is one such reprint.

Originally published in 1867, this book is a collection of songs of African-American slaves. A few of the songs were written after the emancipation, but all were inspired by slavery. The wild, sad strains tell as the sufferers themselves could, of crushed hopes, keen sorrow and a dull daily misery, which covered them as hopelessly as the fog from the rice swamps. On the other hand the words breathe a trusting faith in the life after to which their eyes seem constantly turned.