9 8 1 ▁by ▁literary ▁scholar ▁Henry ▁Louis ▁G ates , ▁Jr . ▁It ▁is ▁believed ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁first ▁novel ▁published ▁by ▁an ▁African - American ▁woman ▁on ▁the ▁North ▁American ▁continent . ▁▁ ▁In ▁ 1 8 9 7 , ▁Joseph ▁Con rad ▁p enn ed ▁a ▁nov ella ▁titled ▁The ▁N igger ▁of ▁the ▁' N arc iss us ', ▁whose ▁tit ular ▁character , ▁James ▁Wait , ▁is ▁a ▁West ▁Indian ▁black ▁sail or ▁on ▁board ▁the ▁merchant ▁ship ▁N arc iss us ▁sail ing ▁from ▁Bomb ay ▁to ▁London . ▁In ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁the ▁novel ▁was ▁first ▁published ▁with ▁the ▁title ▁The ▁Children ▁of ▁the ▁Sea : ▁A ▁T ale ▁of ▁the ▁Fore castle , ▁at ▁the ▁ins istence ▁by ▁the ▁publish er , ▁D odd , ▁M ead ▁and ▁Company , ▁that ▁no ▁one ▁would ▁buy ▁or ▁read ▁a ▁book ▁with ▁the ▁word ▁" n igger " ▁in ▁its ▁title , ▁not ▁because ▁the ▁word ▁was ▁de emed ▁off ensive ▁but ▁that ▁a ▁book ▁about ▁a ▁black ▁man ▁would ▁not ▁sell . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 9 , ▁Word B ridge ▁Publishing ▁published ▁a ▁new ▁edition ▁titled ▁The ▁N - Word ▁of ▁the ▁N arc iss us , ▁which ▁also ▁exc ised ▁the ▁word ▁" n igger " ▁from ▁the ▁text . ▁According ▁to ▁the ▁publish er , ▁the ▁point ▁was ▁to ▁get ▁rid ▁of ▁the ▁off ensive ▁word , ▁which ▁may ▁have ▁led ▁readers ▁to ▁avoid ▁the ▁book , ▁and ▁make ▁it ▁more