item number |
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| 1. | “A Haole.” (George Washington Bates.) SANDWICH ISLAND NOTES. NY. 1854. b/w plates. xiv-493 pp. “An important travel account of the Hawaiian Island written by an American. He visited all parts of the Archipelago and urged their annexation by the United States. In the Hawaiian language ‘Haole’ means foreigner...”—Hill p. 18. Light sunning, but a very nice copy. $300 |
| 2. | Adney, Edwin Tappan and Howard I. Chapelle. THE BARK CANOES AND SKIN BOATS OF NORTH AMERICA. Wash. 1964. b/w plates, plans. 4to. xiv, 242 pp. Best work on the subject. Light foxing on endpapers, else VG. $50 |
| 3. | (Ames, Nathaniel) NAUTICAL REMINISCENCES, William Marshall. Providence. 1832. 216 pp. This is a sequel to to a book of travels Ames published in 1830. Here, he travels to England, Chile, China and India. The old Hill mentions Ames as being a forerunner of Herman Melville in describing South Seas life (Hill p. 5) The new Hill says Ames is “literate, historical erudite sage and rustic.” Ames traveled in Bengal Malaya, Canton and London, among many other places. Smith A36. Hill 12. Original cloth over boards, moderate wear, light stain on prelims, front blank removed. A Good sound copy. $250 |
| 4. | Andrews, Roy Chapman. WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA. NY. 1916. b/w plates. xxi, 332 pp. “A naturalist’s account of the modern shore-whaling industry, of whales and their habits, and of hunting experiences in various parts of the world.” Thanks to Andrews’ camera many aspects of modern whaling operations are pictorially represented. First edition of a desirable book. Spine sunned, worn, else VG. $75 |
| 5. | Anon. A NARRATIVE OF THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE, AT SPITHEAD... 1782... BOUND IN THE WOOD OF THE WRECK... Portsea. 1840. b/w frontispiece. 12mo. 60 pp. In 1782 the Royal George was hove down to repair a water pipe. She heeled more than was expected, took on water and sank suddenly, taking about 900 persons to their deaths. This little book includes the attempt to raise her in 1783 and Pasley’s operations in 1839-40. This type of relic, a book commemorating the raising of the Royal George, with covers made of wood from its hull, is discussed in Klamkin’s Marine Antiques, p. 113. Not in Huntress. Wooden boards, measuring about 4 1/2 " tall, leather backstrip mostly chipped away. Uncommon. $150 |
| 6. | Anon. FULL ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF THE ARCTIC, WITH NEARLY THREE HUNDRED LIVES... WITH A RECORD OF THEIR AWFUL SUFFERINGS AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE STEAMSHIP. Bos. (1854) b/w cover ill. 26 pp. The Arctic collided with a French steamer off Newfoundland. The French ship limped into port; the Arctic promptly sank. The crew had panicked and taken the lifeboats for themselves. Every woman aboard perished. Whitman wrote a poem about the tragedy, and the story was retold in the 1961 book, “Women and Children Last: The Loss of the Steamship Arctic.” This is one of the major accounts on which the story was based. Pages unopened. Original pictorial wraps lightly spotted. $500 |
| 7. | Anon. PERILS OF THE OCEAN OR DISASTERS OF THE SEAS. NY. n.d. b/w ills. 12mo. 72 pp. A “toy book” recounting 5 shipwrecks. Illustrated paper cover. Spine chipped, rear blank stuck to endpaper and torn. Huntress 309C (He dates this work ca. 1840.) $50 |
| 8. | Anon. THE BOOK OF COMMERCE BY SEA AND LAND. Phila. 1837. Colored folding map, b/w woodcut ills. 185 pp. Unusual little book “exhibiting its connection with agriculture, the arts, and manufactures to which is added a history of commerce, and a chronological table.” In fact it’s a popular summary of the branches of trade in which our young nation was engaged, including, spices, furs, fisheries, wines, china, metals, woods, and various products of our manufactories. Illustrated with quaint woodcuts. The folding map tipped to the front pastedown, usually missing, is present in this copy. Minor wear, scattered foxing, still a nice copy in original illustrated paper over boards. $200 See Illustration |
| 9. | Artinano, Gervasio de LA ARQUITECTURA NAVAL ESPANOLA. 1920. Color, duotone and b/w plates. 4to. 427, lxxix pp. A careful and well illustrated study of Spanish merchant and naval vessels from the 13th - early 19th centuries, based on original records and contemporary sources. The major portion of the text contains plans and lines of vessels as well as tables of costs, etc. Appendices contain facsimiles of documents, drawings and appearances of older vessels in contemporary art. The 89 plates following the text are accompanied by a page or more each of explanatory notes. Text in Spanish. #164 of a limited edition, signed by author. Bound in vellum over cloth. Unusual and certainly scarce. VG $500 |
| 10. | Ashley, Clifford W. WHALESHIPS OF NEW BEDFORD. Bos. 1929. b/w plates. 4to. vi, 60 plates. 60 of Clifford Ashley’s drawings of whaleships and the whaling industry. 1st ed. Minor wear, light sunning, but SIGNED byAshley. $200 |
| 11. | Bandeira, Joao de Sousa. (and ) Olympio Jose Chavantes. TRATADO DE APPARELHO DO NAVIO. (AND) COMPENDIO DE APPARELHO DOS NAVOS. Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro 1896, 1881. b/w plates and ills. some folding. xxviii, 211; xxi, 198 pp. A sort of Portuguese version of Darcy Lever’s “Sheet Anchor.” Bandeira’s “Tratado” describes (in Portuguese) and illustrates every aspect of sailing ship technology - masting rigging, sailmaking, as well as various marine evolutions, small boat handling, lifesaving, etc. Most unusual. Original calf over boards, minor wear. Text clean. The earlier “Compendio” is composed along the same lines, but seems to concentrate more on definition of terms, knot work and rigging. It is equally well illustrated, with text in Portuguese. Bound in original wraps, Minor chipping to backstrip, VG. Both vols. $650 |
| 12. | 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. Rebound in black leather over blue boards. A clean copy. $1750 See Illustration |
| 13. | Blewitt, Mary. SURVEYS OF THE SEAS. Lon. 1957 b/w plates. Folio. 168 pp. “A brief history of British hydrography” well illustrated with examples of important charts. VG $100 |
| 14. | Brady, William N. THE KEDGE-ANCHOR; OR, YOUNG SAILOR’S ASSISTANT. NY. 1888. b/w plates. 393 pp. Eighteenth edition, “improved and enlarged, with additional matter, plates, and tables,” of the text that defined standard practice in its day, “...appertaining to the practical evolutions of modern seamanship, rigging, knotting, splicing, blocks, purchases, running rigging... tables of rigging, spars, sails, canvas, cordage, chain and hemp cables, hawsers...” An essential book for the student of maritime history. A very nice copy in original cloth with gold spine decoration and ornate owner’s signature on front blank. $125 |
| 15. | Brewington, M. V. SHIPCARVERS OF NORTH AMERICA. Barre, MA. Color frontis. b/w plates. xiv, 173 pp. Chapter on the controversial Andrew Jackson figurehead on the “Constitution.” First Edition. A Fine copy in dj. $50 |
| 16. | British Admiralty. PRIZE COURT PAPERS, 1799 - 1806 2 folio vols. Unpaginated (about 1000 pp.) During the Napoleonic wars the Royal Navy attempted to keep the seas clean of goods bound for France. Many Scandanavian and American merchant vessels, (inculding some Americans under Danish or Swedish flag) were seized on the high seas by British patrols. The papers in these two massive volumes are the records of court proceedings to determine if the British seizure was legal - that is, who was entitled to the cargo. About 500 individual cases are considered. To this end, they go into great detail about the ship, the cargo, the ownership of same, the captain, the voyage, ports visited and circumstance of capture. Because they were used in court, many bear manuscript notes and additions. In sum, they constitute a massive amount of detail about American merchant shipping in the early years of the 19th century, as well as the activities of the Royal Navy. Both volumes are solidly bound in leather backstrips, but with boards detached or missing. Text clean. $2500 |
| 17. | Browne, J. Ross. ETCHINGS OF A WHALING CRUISE. Cambridge, MA. 1968. b/w illus. 580 pp. Reprint of Browne’s classic with scholarly introduction. A good bargain for those who can't scratch up the $$ for a first edition. Minor wear. VG in dj. $70 |
| 18. | Bugler, Arthur. H.M.S. VICTORY. BUILDING, RESTORATION AND REPAIR. Lon. 1966. 4to. b/w line ills., photo plates, folding plans. xix, 382 pp. Detailed account of the building of Nelson’s flagship, with full particulars of structure (and I mean full) and account of restoration and reconstruction efforts through the years. Practically every plank is documented. Text volume plus 17 folding plates in drop front document box. A very difficult set to find. Small nick in dj., else near Fine. $450 |
| 19. | Burgess, Edward and N. L. Stebbins. AMERICAN AND ENGLISH YACHTS... NY. (1887) b/w plates. Oblong folio. Stebbins’ sought-after first book, a yachting classic. 50 full page gravure plates of yachts, with brief histories and dimensions. Essay on yachts and yachting by Burgess. Toy 329. Morris & Howland p. 131. Neatly rebound in tan buckram with red leather spine label, gold lettering. Plates especially clean and fresh. VG $1250 |
| 20. | Butts, I.R. THE MERCHANT’S & SHIPMASTER’S MANUAL AND SHIPBUILDER’S AND SAILMAKER’S ASSISTANT. Bos. 1873. b/w ills. 68, 156, 100 pp. This book is styled “fifth edition.” Indeed, the first two parts, “Manual of Admeasurement” and “Merchant's... Assistant” appeared in earlier editions, but the third portion of this book did not. 80 pages of this final section are devoted to the “Art of Sailmaking” with examples illustrated. According to the section title, the text is by a U.S. Navy sailmaker named Ware Branson. Bound in original sheep with black and gold spine label. Hinges cracked but holding, some coverwear. Overall a good copy with text and plates in excellent condition. Scarce. $300 |
| 21. | “Capt. Clewline.” THE BOY WHALERS. NY. 1875. 71 pp. plus catalog. Early 20th century reprint of an 1875 narrative, packaged in this incarnation as a pulp potboiler for boys. With pictorial cover. Tanned. Wrapper badly chipped. Text intact. $50 |
| 22. | (Cary, William S.) WRECKED ON THE FEEJEES. (Nantucket. 1928) 74 pp. “Experience of a Nantucket man a century ago, who was sole survivor of whaleship “Oeno” and lived for nine years among cannibals of South Sea Islands.” Compiled from Cary’s log book. Light spotting to wraps. Forster 14. VG. $45 |
| 23. | Cayley, Arthur. THE LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH, KNT. Lon. 1805. b/w frontis. 2 vols. 4to. xii, 320, vii, 213, 115 pp. An early biography of Raleigh. Bound in full calf, boards detached. 2 vols. $100 |
| 24. | Charles Tyng & Co. COMMERCIAL FORMALITIES OF THE PORT OF HAVANA. Havana. 1858. 12mo. 58, (1), (1) pp. A rare guide to the Port of Havana by these American commission merchants. With tables and explanations of consular fees, towage rates, duties and tariffs, tarriff regulations, descriptions of staple exports, harbor regulations, custom house rules, etc. With an index. Not in Sabin or Cundall. No locations on OCLC. Bound in original wrappers, light foxing, VG. $500 |
| 25. | Chart. GULF OF CALIFORNIA... BETWEEN... LATITUDE 26’ & 29’ 20”. Heavy paper chart measuring 29 x 35 inches, showing Mexico and Lower California from Tiburon Island to Carmen Island. From a survey made by Dewey in the Narragansett in 1875, corrected to 1899. 3 inch tear on right side, else VG $100 |