ABSTRACT
To what extent did commercial editions differ from the original tales authors brought home from their captivity, and how can we explain the modifications? This essay addresses this question based on Emanuel d’Aranda’s Algiers and It’s Slavery (1656), of which not only several seventeenth-century editions exist, but also the original manuscript. Comparing the manuscript to the various print editions and examining these in the context of contemporary literary-philosophical trends, the history of Algiers and It’s Slavery offers unique insight into the intricate process of turning the experience of captivity into a narrative suitable for a wide audience.
