William Brown escaped from slavery as a child. Brown was still considered a slave at the time of this novel's publication. Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel and fiction. Clotel or the President's Daughter has been considered the first African-American novel. It was published in London in 1853. Brown hoped that his work would influence the British to help with the abolitionist movement in the United States. Four versions of Clotel, published between 1853 and 1867 include Clotel; or the President's Daughter: a Narrative of Slave Life in the United States, London, Partridge & Oakey, 1953; Miralda; or, The Beautiful Quadroon. A Romance of American Slavery, Founded on Fact, In Sixteen Installments, New York. Weekly Anglo African, December 1, 1860 to March 16, 1861; Clotelle: A Tale of the Southern States, Boston: J. Redpath, 1864; Clotelle; or The Colored Heroine, A Tale of the Southern States, Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1867