The Heroic Slave is written by well-known author, publisher, and civil-rights activist, Frederick Douglass. The novella is Douglass' only published work of fiction, although the story borrows strongly from the 1841 slave revolt aboard the brig Creole.

The work first appeared in 1852 as part of the anothology Autographs for Freedom, published by John P. Jewett and Co., in Boston, for the Rochester Ladies' Anti Slavery Society.

In the nineteenth-century, authors often had less control over their works than modern authors. Publishers could make significant decisions—sometimes without an author's permission—and copyright could be difficult to enforce. As a result, nineteenth-century works often exist in multiple editions and variants.

This edition is prepared for easy use wih e-readers, specifically with students in mind, based on digitized files from Project Gutenberg. While every effort has been made to ensure that the text is reproduced faithfully, this edition is no substitute for an authoritative edition.