Of the introductory letters that begin on this page, Robert Stepto writes “In theory, each of these introductory documents should be classic guarantees written almost exclusively for a white reading public, concerned primarily and ritualistically with the white validation of a newfound black voice, and removed from the tale in such ways that the guarantee and tale vie silently and surreptitiously for control of the narrative as a whole.” (17) Even though these letters are contained within the same book, there is potential for them to compete with Douglass’s text for authorial control.