item number |
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| 1. | Addington, L. A DIGEST OF REVENUE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES... Phila. 1804. 12mo. iv, 262, xlv pp. “Wherein are arranged, under distinct heads, the duties of collectors, naval officers, surveyors, merchants, masters of vessels, and all other persons connected with imposts.” Nuts and bolts of commercial regulations in the early days of the country. A few pages creased, scattered foxing, but a nice copy in original full calf with spine label. $300 |
| 2. | Amedeo, Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi. ON THE “POLAR STAR” IN THE ARCTIC SEA. NY. 1903. 2 vol. (xvi) (346), xxii;702, xii pp. This expedition, led by Commander Cagni, went further north than any other at the time. Arctic Bib., 10423. First American Edition. With 2 fldg. maps in back pocket. Inner hinge of second volume starting, short tears to spine ends, else VG in gilt-decorated cloth. $200 |
| 3. | (Andre, Benoit.) MÉMOIRES DE PAUL JONES, OÙ IL EXPOSE SES PRINCIPAUX SERVICES, ET RAPPELLE CE QUI LUI EST ARRIVÉ DE PLUS REMARQUABLE PENDANT LE COURS DE LA RÉVOLUTION AMÉRICAINE, PARTICULIÉREMENT EN EUROPE, ÉCRITS PAR LUI- MÊME EN ANGLAIS, ET TRADIUTS SOUS SES YEUX PAR LE CITOYEN ANDRÉ. Paris. 1798. 12mo. xix, 244 pp. This is the first edition of the rare first biography of John Paul Jones. Seitz says the book is made up from the narrative, “Journal for the King” which Jones presented to Louis XVI. André was Jones’ secretary. He translated the “Journal” and subsequently published the manuscript as these Mémoires. See Howes J228; Rosenbach 375; Seitz, p.182. Rebound in modern half cloth over marbled boards with leather spine label. Text and engraved frontispiece in Fine condition. $1750 |
| 4. | Andrews, Capt. W. D. THE LIFEBOAT AND OTHER POEMS. Toronto. n.d. (ca. 1890). b/w ills. 64 pp. Andrews, an exceptional swimmer, spent 18 years saving drowning persons before exposure to the elements claimed his vision and left him to write verse. Thankfully only the last few pages are dedicated to poetry. The rest is a collection of accounts of his heroic rescues and numerous awards, often taken from letters and news stories. Copiously illustrated with drawings of Wilson saving men, women and children, and in various lifeboats. Stiff blue boards waterstained at the edges, with light staining on endpapers and blanks. $150 |
| 5. | Andrews, William A. A DARING VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. NY. n.d. (1880).. b/w plates. 151 pp. plus 15 page publisher’s catalog. The Andrews brothers sailed from Boston to England and then to France in a 20 foot Gloucester dory built by Higgins & Gifford in 1878. Andrews made a total of 5 small boat voyages. In 1901 he and his second wife attempted a honeymoon voyage and were lost. First American edition, and quite scarce. A London edition was printed the same year and this book is bound up from the same sheets. Morris & Howland p. 5. Toy 486 (citing reprint only). VG in original pretty Victorian decorated cloth, minor wear. $300 |
| 6. | Anon. A COLLECTION OF PAPERS ON NAVAL ARCHITECTURE... Cornhill. 1805. Variously paginated, about 300 pp. A collection of articles on the state of shipbuilding and naval technology in the 18th century. In the first two parts there are about 50 pages taken up with bibliographical essays on the literature of shipbuilding. These, obviously, include sources overlooked in modern bibliographies. The rest is composed of short articles on various aspects of ship building practice and technology. Included are Gilmore’s essay on navigation and numerous essays on trees and timber. A most unusual collection, apparently reprinted from a contemporary journal, and a unique look at marine technology of the 18th century. Scott 433, referring to the 1792 edition, of which this appears to be an abbreviated version. Unlisted elsewhere. OCLC lists holdings in only one library. Half calf over marbled boards. Spine label indicates this is the first volume of a set, but there is no record of the rest of the set’s existence. Light wear. VG. $500 |
| 7. | Anon. REGISTER OF THE COMMISSIONED, WARRANT, AND VOLUNTEER OFFICERS OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING OFFICERS OF THE MARINE CORPS AND OTHERS, TO JANUARY 1, 1864 (BOUND WITH) REGISTER... 1865. Wash. 1864, 1865. 2 vols. bound together. 289; 335 pp. Includes engineers, surgeons, boatswains, carpenters, etc. Inscribed by a Lt. Franklin of the Iosco, with his subsequent moves up to 1865 written in back, and his annotations. Some pages waterstained, bound in worn half calf over marbled boards. $125 |
| 8;. | Anon. REGISTER OF THE COMMISSIONED, WARRANT, AND VOLUNTEER OFFICERS OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING OFFICERS OF THE MARINE CORPS AND OTHERS, TO JANUARY 1, 1861 (BOUND WITH) REGISTER... 1862. Wash. 1861, 1862. 2 vols. bound together. 185; 248 pp. Ink stain on first few pages, scattered spotting, bound in worn half calf over marbled boards. $125 |
| 9. | Anon. REGISTER OF THE COMMISSIONED, WARRANT, AND VOLUNTEER OFFICERS OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING OFFICERS OF THE MARINE CORPS AND OTHERS, TO JANUARY 1, 1866 (BOUND WITH) REGISTER... 1867, .... JULY, 1867; ... JULY, 1868; ... JANUARY, 1869; ... JULY, 1869. Wash. 1866-69 7 vols. bound together. 238; 190; 81; 84; 81; 159; 79 pp. Scattered spotting, bound in worn half calf over marbled boards. $125 |
| 10. | Arago, Jacques Etienne Victor. VOYAGE AUTOUR DU MONDE. Bruxelles. 1840 b/w lithos. 570 pp. Brussels reprint of a Paris edition of Arago’s book of which Hill says, “This richly illustrated edition is much prized. The additional scientific data was written by... a relative of the author’s.” The Paris edition had colored plates, this edition has b/w plates. In either case the 61 plates are lively renderings of the people of the Pacific Islands by Arago, the artist on a French scientific expedition that circled the globe in 1817-1820. Among the expedition’s stops were Australia, Hawaii, Tonga and Tierra del Fuego. “The original ship, wrecked off the Falkland Islands, was replaced by the Physicienne which visited Rio de Janeiro. Captain Louis Freycinet’s wife, Rose, was smuggled on board at the advent of the voyage and made the complete journey, causing a great deal of discord among the crew... These entertaining letters, written in a lively and witty literary style, provide vivid descriptions of the topography and the inhabitants of the Pacific islands.”—Hill p. 9-10. Ferguson, 2906. Rebound in serviceable brown buckram. Scattered foxing and waterstained, not much of it, happily, affecting the marvelous plates. $750 See Illustration |
| 11. | Barba, Albaro Alfonso. THE ART OF METALS... IN TWO BOOKS... Lon. 1674. b/w plate. 2 vols. 156; 91 pp. First complete edition in English of a “muy rara” work first published in Madrid in 1640. (See Palau 23622.) The two books deal with mining and refining commercially important metals. Notes to the Honeyman Sale catalog say the author “was sent to Peru in 1588 and never came back.” This English translation was done by the Earl of Sandwich, and is also a rare book, not having appeared at auction since 1974, where a shaved copy brought $700 at the Horblit Sale. Wing B678 and B 682. Complete. Page corners rounded with no loss (probably from fire). Rebound in full calf, antique style, with spine label. $1500 |
| 12. | Barrington, George. THE HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, INCLUDING BOTANY BAY, PORT JACKSON, PARRAMATTA, SYDNEY AND ALL ITS DEPENDENCIES, FROM THE ORIGINAL DISCOVERY OF THE ISLAND... AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH COLONY FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. Lon. 1802. Color and b/w plates. (47), 8-506 pp. Appears to be a later state of the first edition of Barrington’s History, with 16 colored plates, engraved frontispiece and b/w plate, rather than the 14 colored plates called for in the first issue. Barrington was a pickpocket sentenced to hard time in Australia. He made good there, and somehow worked his way into a position of authority. His authorship of this, or many of the other works ascribed to him, is doubtful. However, Hill and others find the text of interest. Ferguson, 345. Abbey 565 (with a long discussion of issue points). Hill, pp. 14-15. Occasional internal spotting. Bound in later full calf with gold spine rules, original spine label laid down and endpapers renewed. $650 |
| 13. | Bennett, Frederick Debell. NARRATIVE OF A WHALING VOYAGE ROUND THE GLOBE, FROM THE YEAR 1833 TO 1836. COMPRISING SKETCHES OF POLYNESIA, CALIFORNIA, THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, ETC. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SOUTHERN WHALES, THE SPERM WHALE FISHERY... Lon. 1840. b/w plates, charts, ills. 2 vols. xv, 402 and vii, 395 pp. One of the classic whaling books. No less an authority than Herman Melville says, “There are only two books in being which pretend to put the living Sperm Whale before you, and at the same time in the remotest degree succeed in the attempt. Those books are Beale's and Bennett's...” (“Moby Dick”, Chapter 32). Bennett was a scientist on the whaleship Tuscan whose purpose was to investigate the sperm whale fishery and ways of making it more efficient. In the course of his travels he visited Pitcairn Island and gives an account of the mutiny on the Bounty. He also stopped at Tahiti, the Marquesas and Hawaii, and spends much of the narrative dealing with the “ecological, historical and sociological aspects of the Polynesian inhabitants” — Hill, p. 22. Hunnewell, p. 24. Judd 19, Jenkins, p. 80, Forster 7. Scattered light foxing on the first few pages, tidy plate and stamp of a private library on front pastedown, but this copy is in Very Good condition in original cloth bindings, and rare thus. Housed in later slipcase. $2750 |
| 14. | Birkeland, Knut B. THE WHALERS OF AKUTAN. New Haven. 1926. b/w plates. 171 pp. First edition of a scarce account, primarily a “description of the whales and the industry of whaling, with notes on the islands and native Aleuts.”—Arctic Bib 1593. Minor soiling, wear. $100 |
| 15. | Blunt, Edmund. THE AMERICAN COAST PILOT. NY. 1842. b/w charts, fldg. xxii, 686 (4) pp. This is the 14th edition. With 17 plates of waters and harbors from Maine to Virginia, and the unlisted plate, as called for by Campbell, between pp. 208-209. Campbell 16. A very nice copy with ads for Edward Dent chronometers and Francis’ patent life boats at back, and the engraved plate of Frederick Lincoln, instrument maker of Boston, on the front pastedown. Bound in original full sheep with red spine label. $400. A second, identical copy, showing somewhat more binding wear, still in Very Good condition $350 |
| 16. | Bowditch, Nathaniel. DIRECTIONS FOR SAILING INTO THE HARBOURS OF SALEM, MARBLEHEAD, BEVERLY AND MANCHESTER. Newburyport. 1806. 30 pp. First edition of a rare early American pilot, published to accompany Bowditch’s chart of Salem Harbor. In 1794 a survey of Salem Harbor was started but never completed. Bowditch, intending to finish the project, found the earlier survey inaccurate and started all over again, producing a much more extensive work. The sailing directions in this pamphlet have highly detailed descriptions of every coastal feature from Manchester to Marblehead, including forts, houses and other structures, providing a window into Massachusetts’ past. Burstyn p. 115. Campbell p. 58. Sabin 6996. Original blue wrappers, with the ownership inscription manuscript notations of “Wm. Gibbs, Salem.” Bound into later cloth over marbled boards. VG $2250 |
| 17. | Bradshaw, A. R. and Lord Mountbatten. ENGLISH-FRENCH NAVAL TERMS (AND) SUPPLEMENT TO BRADSHAW’S FRENCH-ENGLISH NAVAL TERMS. Lon. 1932, n.d. 284, 140 pp. Bradshaw’s Lord Mountbatten compiled his unofficial supplement for distribution among translators. Laid down in the Bradshaw volume is a ms. LETTER FROM MOUNTBATTEN DATED 1936, explaining his exclusion of Bradshaw from the introduction of his supplement. Although the supplement refers to the French-English book, amendments have been carefully made in the text of the Bradshaw, VG in dj, supplement in wraps, both with some wear. $150 |
| 18. | Brassey, Lady. (Annie Allnutt Brassey, Baroness.) TAHITI. Lon. 1882. 29 b/w photo plates. xii, 68 pp. In 1880 Colonel Stuart Wortley and his wife visited Tahiti, a place they loved. He took some wonderful photographs and she wrote the knowledgeable and entertaining text. The illustrations in this edition are reproduced in some high quality manner that gives them the rich velvety appearance of actual photographic prints. The book is in a full red morocco presentation binding gilt inner dentelles and silk doublures. It features a signed and dated 10 line inscription from Lady Brassey on the front blank. A unique copy of a lovely book. Spine a bit rubbed else VG. $1500 |
| 19. | Brewington, M.V. and Dorothy. KENDALL WHALING MUSEUM PAINTINGS (AND) KENDALL WHALING MUSEUM PRINTS. Sharon, MA. 1965, 1969. Color and b/w plates. 2 vols. xiii, 137; vii, 209 pp. First editions of these useful and well-produced references. Hundreds of paintings and prints reproduced with descriptions. Very light stain at base of spine of “Paintings” volume” else VG. 2 volumes. $200 |
| 20. | Briggs, L. Vernon. HISTORY OF SHIPBUILDING ON THE NORTH RIVER, PLYMOUTH COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS. Bos. 1889. b/w plates. xv, 420 pp. “With genealogies of the shipbuilders, and accounts of the industries upon its tributaries, 1640 to 1872.” A scarce and important work, documenting some of the major shipbuilding firms in New England history. Howes B-774 (an “aa” item). This copy is given by one Briggs (and Robert Gray) heir to another. Some some information about the ship Columbia laid in, and four photos of the Briggs homestead on North River. Very nice copy bound in half morocco over boards, gold spine decorations and title. VG $350 |
| 21. | Bruce, Alexander Balmain. THE LIFE OF WILLIAM DENNY, SHIP-BUILDER, DUMBARTON. Lon. 1888. b/w frontis, fldg. color map. 479 pp. A stiff Victorian biography of a stiff Victorian, with much information on the English shipbuilding business of the 19th century. Denny was born into a successful shipbuilding family and went on to institute important technological and social changes in the industry. Inscribed by Denny’s mother. Minor wear, VG. $125 |
| 22. | Campbell, John F. HISTORY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NEW AMERICAN PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR AND THE AMERICAN COAST PILOT. Salem, MA. 1964. The essential reference book. Out of print. VG $125 |
| 23. | Carr, Frank G.G. VANISHING CRAFT. Lon. (1934) 20 sepia toned plates. 4to. 107 pp. “British coastal types in the last days of sail.” Depicted in 20 drawings by marine artist Frank Mason. Detailed text and lines of vessels also included. First ed. Scarce. VG $75 |
| 24. | Chamber of Commerce of New York. IN RELATION TO COLLISIONS AT SEA. NY. 1859. 49 pp. The report on law concerning collisions at sea and includes a supplement with criticisms of the report and the Chamber’s responses. Some pages uncut. Original paper wraps soiled and chipped. Pages stained in margins. With a folio sheet, Supplement to “Wall Street Underwriter”, October 15, 1859, concerning a report by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on the same subject. Sabin 53585. $200 |
| 25. | Clarke, Robert. OPEN BOAT WHALING IN THE AZORES. Cambridge, Eng. 1954. b/w plates. 4to. pp. 284-354 plus xviii plates. Discovery Reports XXVI. First edition. Monograph on the last survival of whaling and processing methods learned in the 19th century from American whalers. Just about impossible to find these days. VG in original printed wrappers. $150 |