item number |
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| 1. | Abell, Sir Westcott. THE SHIPWRIGHT’S TRADE. Cambridge, ENG. 1948. b/w plates. xiii, 218 pp. History of shipbuilding from the earliest times. With discussions of methods, technologies and designs. Scarce First edition. Minor cover wear, VG $50 See Illustration |
| 2. | American Bureau of Shipping. 1878 RECORD OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN SHIPPING. NY. 1878. Color and b/w plates. 1063, xliv pp. The “American Lloyds.” Conveys more information and is more inclusive than the American merchant vessel lists. Scarce early edition of a series started in 1867. Some cover wear, Good. $300 |
| 3. | American Bureau of Shipping. 1886 RECORD OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN SHIPPING. NY. 1886. Color and b/w plates. 1262 pp. Cover wear, hinges cracked, but binding holding. Good. $250 |
| 4. | American Bureau of Shipping. 1893 RECORD OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN SHIPPING. NY. 1893. b/w plates. 1150 pp. Backstrip lacking, covers detached. $100 |
| 5. | American Bureau of Shipping. 1895 RECORD OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN SHIPPING. NY. 1895. b/w plates. 1120 pp. Backstrip lacking, covers detached, partially disbound. $100 |
| 6. | Anderson, Mary E. SCENES IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AND CALIFORNIA. Bos. 1865. Color frontis., b/w plates. 12mo. viii-238 pp. Mary was the daughter of missionary Rufus Anderson, and she accompanied her father to Hawaii in 1863. Her book, written for children, is “an interesting complement to the more formal account written by her father.” Forbes III 2611. Cowan p. 15. The section on California occupies about a dozen pages. This is the true first edition with the colored frontispiece. Front free endpaper torn. Covers faded with some wear to spine ends, text shows occasional spotting. A Good copy of a scarce book. $250 |
| 7. | Anon. A VOYAGE THROUGH THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. NY. 1838. b/w wood engravings. 12mo. 168 pp. American edition of a work originally published in Dublin in 1824. Takes the reader on a tour of the Pacific and its islands aboard the Arrow, commanded by a Capt, Campbell. The mutiny on the Bounty and a visit to Pitcairn are described. Actually a compilation popular accounts. Scarce, no holdings on OCLC, though Fergusson says copies of the Dublin and London editions are at the National Library, Canberra and the Mitchell Library, Sydney. See Fergusson 969 and note to 1496a. $200 |
| 8;. | Anon. CHINA AND THE ENGLISH. NY. (1843) Color title, b/w plates. 12mo. 324 pp. A scarce work, intended for Americans interested in China, and gleaned from such standard sources as Morrison, Barrow and Staunton. An earlier edition had come out in 1835. However, this edition adds a terminal chapter about the Opium War which is surprisingly sympathetic to the Chinese. VG in original cloth binding. $150 |
| 9. | Anon. OUTFITS FOR A WHALING VOYAGE. Printed lists of provisions, cabin stores, medicines, casks, try pots, copper, soaps, timbers, whaling hardwarde, chains and anchors, cooking utensils, tools... in short, whatever might be needed on a typical whaling voyage. This printed listing is marked with frequent manuscript notes, as the ship’s representative or the provisioner checked off the vessel’s needs, and the quantity of each item required. These notes prove very informative, in the sense that we now know which cooking spices (for example) this vessel purchased. In addition, the purchaser frequently noted additions to the printed lists, in manuscript, such as “2 stone jugs, 6 vegetable dishes,” or, “1 tryworks lantern.” Finally, the provisioner has tallied up, in manuscript, quantities of such staples as water, bread, flour, and supplies such as whale line and shooks, on the back pages. The book is marked “Joe Costa, Chelsea. Bk Greyhound June, 1898” on the front cover. Lund notes that a whaleship of this name with a master “Costa” departed New Bedford in 1898 and returned in 1902. Hegarty notes a bark of the same name under Joseph Edwards that returned from the Atlantic in 1902 with 3070 barrels of sperm oil. The advertisement at the back is for C.R. Sherman’s navigation store in New Bedford. VG in cardboard covers with calf backstrip. A very detailed record of the latter days of whaling on the east coast. $400 |
| 10. | Anon. THE LIFE, TRAVELS, VOYAGES AND DARING ENGAGEMENTS OF PAUL JONES. TO WHICH IS ADDED: THE LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF MARY LACY. NY. 1809. 12mo. 108 pp New York reprint of a popular Jones biography. The interesting portion is the addition of Mary Lacy, “The Female Shipwright” who served four years at sea and seven years at Portsmouth Dock Yard in England, disguised as a man. Indeed, Mary had a taste for young girls, and ascribed her troubles to a fondness for dancing with men. Seitz, p. 193. Fairly scarce, with only 5 holdings listed on OCLC. A portion of p. 99 is chipped away, with loss of several words. Otherwise a good copy, pages tanned, in worn 19th century calf over boards. $150 |
| 11. | Bacon, Lee. OUR HOUSEBOAT ON THE NILE. Bos. 1902. Color frontis., b/w plates. x, 286 pp. An american couple take a two-masted Egyptian sailing houseboat from Aswan to Philae.” Toy notes, “Very interesting observations on contemporary Egypt... Written in a humorous style.” - Toy 1436. First ed. Illustrated cover rather worn. Good. $45 |
| 12. | Baker, J.N.L. THE HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHY. Oxford. 1963. b/w frontis., maps. xxviii, 266 pp. Eighteen essays by Baker, including two on “Mythical Lands in History” and “Some Dutch Charts of the Seventeenth Century” ticked off in pencil, presumably by Samuel Eliot Morison, whose book this was, SIGNED BY MORISON on front blank. First ed. VG, dj. $75 |
| 13. | Becker, Carl J. PORTRAITS OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 1865. (SPINE TITLE). 4to. Unpaginated. American artist (Joseph) Carl J. Becker was born in 1841 and died in 1910. Early in his career he executed line engraved portraits of 116 Union Navy officers. From comparison with available photos these engravings exhibit a high degree of realism and accuracy. Many are signed in the plate. Those that are not are so similar in style as to leave little doubt that young Becker did them all. Happily, each engraving is identified in pencil at the bottom of the page (page size is about 7 x 10 inches). Judging by rank assigned the officers these captions were added in the 1880s. The portaits have been arranged in alphabetical order - from Capt. James Alden to Rear Admiral John L. Worden - and bound in half red morocco over marbled boards. Except for the spine title and captions, no other information is in the book. A most useful and interesting collection. $500 |
| 14. | Bethell, A. Talbot. THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. Nassau. n.d. b/w frontis. 166 pp. This is the second edition, with much additional material about the American Revolution, leading to the histories of people who came to the Bahamas as a result of that war. Scarce in either edition. VG $75 |
| 15. | Bishop, Nathaniel. VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE... Bos. (1878) b/w ills., charts. xiii, 351 pp. “A geographical journey of 2500 miles, from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, During they years 1874-5.” Toy calls it, “A very interesting account of the voyage and of the rural South nine years after the close of the Civil War.” And indeed, it is one of the classic American small boat books, as well as being a great read. First edition. Some spotting on front cover else VG with gold cover decoration intact. $200 |
| 16. | Bolger, Philip C. SMALL BOATS. Camden, ME (1973) b/w plates. 186 pp. 31 boats from the designer who gave us “Archaeopteryx”. First book in the series. VG in chipped dj. $50 |
| 17. | Bolger, Philip C. THE FOLDING SCHOONER AND OTHER ADVENTURES IN BOAT DESIGN. Second in the series of books by the iconoclastic and always enjoyable Bolger. VG in lightly worn dj. $50 |
| 18. | Bradlee, Francis B. C. SOME ACCOUNT OF STEAM NAVIGATION IN NEW ENGLAND. Salem. 1920 b/w plates. 153 pp., Boston, New York, Portland and Lakes. Illustrations of vessels. Scarce. VG $125 |
| 19. | Briggs, Vernon L. AROUND CAPE HORN TO HONOLULU ON THE BARK AMY TURNER, 1880. Bos. 1926. b/w plates. 186 pp. No. 456 in a limited edition of 550 copies. By all accounts, Briggs was a young man of brilliant mind and firm purpose when he took ill with tuberculosis, and was dispatched to the winds by the family physician. His account of the sailors aloft in a gale is still fresh. VG. $125 |
| 20. | Brown, Lloyd.A. JEAN DOMENQIUE CASSINI AND HIS WORLD MAP OF 1696. Ann Arbor. 1941. Color title, b/w plates. 79 pp. First edition, inscribed by Brown. $100 |
| 21. | Bullard, John M. (editor). CAPTAIN EDMUND GARDNER OF NANTUCKET AND NEW BEDFORD. HIS JOURNAL AND HIS FAMILY. New Bedford, MA. 1958. b/w plates. 108 pp. Gardner was a New Bedford whaling captain, one of whose ships was sunk by a whale. Portions of his journals are presented here, as well as genealogies and contemporary accounts. Forster 49. SIGNED BY AUTHOR. VG, dj. $100 |
| 22. | Bunting, W.H. PORTRAIT OF A PORT: BOSTON, 1852-1914. Cambridge. 1971. b/w halftone photos. Sq. 4to. xviii. 519 pp. Best pictorial and historical work on Boston’s waterfront. First ed. VG in lightly worn dj. $75 See Illustration |
| 23. | Burroughs, Richard. A TREATISE ON TRIGONOMETRY & NAVIGATION... Burlington, VT. 1807. b/w engraved plates. xii-81 pp. An early and unusual American treatise on navigation. Mr. Burroughs promises to resolve the problems attendant to that science “without aid of books or instruments, merely by dint of memory.” The many editions of Bowditch make it clear he didn’t succeed, but he did manage to write a succinct account of the basics of navigation, illustratred by 8 engraved plates. Karpinsi p. 170. A nice copy, bound in original calf. Outer hinge cracked, name blacked out on title page in old ink. $200 |
| 24. | Butts, I.R. and Ware Branson. THE ART OF SAILMAKING. (AND) BOOKKEEPING AND METHOD OF KEEPING SHIP’S ACCOUNTS. Bos. 1860. b/w ills. viii-100 The text of the sailmaking section is by a U.S. Navy sailmaker named Ware Branson. The Bookkeeping section is by Butts, who published the work as well. A 4 page catalog at the back of the book shows that Butts also published “Merchant’s, Shipmaster’s, and Mechanic’s Assistant” which included the section on sailmaking. Binding worn, contents clean, with small waterstain in lower corner. $150 |
| 25. | Campbell, G.F. CHINA TEA CLIPPERS. Lon. (1954) b/w plates. 12mo. 77 pp. Diminutive first incarnation of Campbell’s classic. Collectable, if not as informative as later, larger editions. INSCRIBED BY CAMPBELL. VG, chipped dj. $50 |
| 26. | Campbell, George. CHINA TEA CLIPPERS. NY. (1974) b/w plates, plans. 156 pp. Details presented by artist-draftsman Campbell in this expanded edition. INSCRIBED. VG, dj $65 |
| 27. | Carrick, Robert W. and Richard Henderson. JOHN G. ALDEN AND HIS YACHT DESIGNS. Camden, ME. (1984) b/w plates, plans. to. xvi, 445 pp. Biographical sketch and examination of more than 100 Alden designs. This title has become quite scarce. VG, dj $125 |
| 28. | Chart. A NEW CHART OF THE COAST OF NEW ENGLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, NEW FRANCE OR CANADA, WITH THE ISLANDS OF NEWFOUNDLD., CAPE BRETON, ST. JOHN’S &CT. “Done from the original published in 1744 at Paris by Mons. N. Bellin...” Signed in type, “T. Jefferys sculp.” A handsome chart of the Gulf of St. Lawrence - Nova Scotia, New Foundland and Labrador, colored in outline, (cartouche scene fully colored), with insets of Quebec, Fort Dauphin, the North Atlantic, and Louisbourg. Image size is 18 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches, matted and framed. $750 |
| 29. | Clairbois, Vial du. TRAITE ELEMENTAIRE DE LA CONSTRUCTION DES VAISSEAUX, A L’USAGE DES ELEVES DE LA MARINE... Paris. 1787, 1805. b/w plates. 2 vols. 4to. 308, plus 20 folding plates; 391, 14 tables, 21-39 plates. “Clairbois... was a French naval constructor, inspector, and director of the school of naval construction for the French Marine... The text is a clear and comprehensive outline of shipbuilding. Volume 1 covers the theoretical principles of naval architecture, and volume 2, the plans and specifications for practical construction.” Scott 409. Quite scarce. Only two copies of the complete set listed on OCLC, none on the net or at auction. Waterstain on outer edge of prelims in vol 2. else a handsome set bound in period calf over marbled boards. $2500 |
| 30. | Clark, William Bell. LAMBERT WICKES SEA RAIDER AND DIPLOMAT. New Haven. 1932. b/w facsimiles. xviii, 466 pp. Wickes carried Franklin to France then harried British coastal shipping with the aim of drawing France into the war. First edition. INSCRIBED BY HISTORIAN WILLIAM BELL CLARK. VG in chipped dj. $75 |
| 31. | Colledge, J. J. SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY. (Annapolis, 1987, 1989). 2 vols. 388, 245 pp. This is the revised, expanded and corrected version of a work first published in 1969-70. The first volume is “The complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the fifteenth century to the present.” The second adds “Navy-built trawlers, drifters, tugs asnd requisitioned ships.” Some entries bracketed or starred in pen, else VG, dj. 2 vols. $75 |
| 32. | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. AN ACT FOR INCORPORATING THE SOCIETY FORMED FOR THE RELIEF OF POOR, AGED AND INFIRM MASTERS OF SHIPS, THEIR WIDOWS AND CHILDREN... AND A LIST OF MEMBERS. Phila. 1827. 32 pp. This act includes the rules and by-laws of the society, including standards for receiving relief. The society was begun prior to the Revolution. Perhaps more interesting is the 12 page list of members who entered between 1765 and 1826 - a register of those influential in maritime affairs and charities in Philadelphia. Stitched binding in plain paper wrappers. VG $200 |
| 33. | Cook, James. CAPTAIN COOK’S THREE VOYAGES TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. Bos. 1797. b/w plates. 2 vols. 12mo. vii, 315; 351 pp. Noteworthy as the first collected edition of Cook’s voyages published in America. However, this set lacks 2 of the 8 plates. Beddie 58. Evans 31982. Forbes 270. Internally clean, spine ends worn, two boards detached but present. Bound in original calf with spine labels. As is. $750 See Illustration |
| 34. | Cowper, Frank. JACK-ALL-ALONE. Lon. 1897. b/w frontis, ills. 290 pp. Cowper relates tales of nine cruises, beginning when he was a child. “Well-told tales in a hearty style.” - Toy 900. First ed. Minor cover spotting, VG $45 |
| 35. | Culver, Henry B. FORTY FAMOUS SHIPS. Garden City, NY. 1936. Color, duotone and b/w ills, plates. 4to. xiv, 320 pp. Saint Paul’s ship and the Santa Maria through the Mayflower, the Bounty, Victory, Constitution, America, Great Eastern, Queen Mary. With brief history by Culver and drawing of each vessel by Gordon Grant, some in full color. This is #85 in a limited edition of 501 copies signed by Culver. VG $100 |
| 36. | Curtis, W.H. THE ELEMENTS OF WOOD SHIP CONSTRUCTION. NY. 1919. b/w illus. 223 pp. Many drawings of construction details. First edition. $65 |
| 37. | Davidson, Marshall. EARLY AMERICAN TOOLS. (Verona, Italy. 1975) b/w plates, some folding. Square 4to. Unpaginated. Davidson’s text and Han’s Namuth’s marvellous photographs illustrate and comment upon early tools - including the planes, jacks, saws, mallets, mauls, adzes, etc., that would have been found in the shipyard. The photographs are remarkable. Fine in translucent paper dj. $50 |
| 38. | Defoe, Daniel THE STORM: OR, A COLLECTION OF THE MOST REMARKABLE CASUALTIES AND DISASTERS WHICH HAPPENED IN THE LATE DREADFUL TEMPEST, BOTH BY SEA AND LAND. Lon. 1704. (14), 272 pp. At this early stage of his career, Defoe was a radical pamphleteer who had just been released from Newgate where he’d been imprisoned for libel against the Tory establishment. There had been a terrible storm the year before in which Eddystone light had been destroyed and all its keepers killed. The Royal Navy had lost a dozen ships and 1700 men. Defore resolved to write about it, and the resulting work - The Storm - was the first of his fact-based narratives, a genre that was to culminate in his Journal of a Plague Year two decades later. The book contains a great deal of eye witness testimony and much scientific information, as well as a folding table listing ships lost, commanders, guns, where lost, etc. Defoe estimates that about 8000 lives were lost offshore. Lowndes, p. 616. Huntress, 30C. First edition, original calf with old spine label. Hinges cracked, pages evenly tanned. Good condition. $450 |
| 39. | Demandt, E. DIE FISCHEREI DER SAMOANER. Hamburg. 1913. b/w ills., plates. 4to. 142 pp. plus VII plates. German work about native Samoan fishing methods, with diagrams of fishing craft and tools, and photo plates of hooks, sinkers and fishing methods. Part of the “Mitteilungen aus dem Museum fur Volkerkunde in Hamburg.” VG $125 |
| 40. | Dickenson, Jonathan. THE SHIPWRECK AND DREADFUL SUFFERINGS OF ROBERT BARROW... Salem, OH. 1826. 12mo. x-120 pp. 19th century retelling of one of the earliest and most famous American shipwreck accounts. Barrow was a Quaker missionary enroute from Jamaica to Philadelphia. His ship, the Reformation, wrecked off the Florida coast. The survivors were captured by Indians and finally made their way to Charleston. The first edition of this account was published in 1699. This Ohio imprint is quite unusual, being listed in Howes as an "aa". Huntress 28C. Howes D-317. Bound in contemporary sheep over boards. Minor staining, pages tanned, spine ends worn, but a good solid copy. $500 |
| 41. | Doubleday, Russell. A YEAR IN A YAWL. NY. 1901. b/w plates. viii, 365 pp. Novel for boys about a trip in a gaff rigged yawl — down the Mississippi, up the east coast, over to the Great Lakes and back home. First edition, Toy 5466. Morris & Howland p. 45. In striking decorated cover, lightly soiled. $75 |
| 42. | Dow, George Francis and John Henry Edwards. THE PIRATES OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST. Salem. 1923. b/w plates. xxii, 394 pp. Publication #2 of the Marine Research Society. Begins with a tracing of English pirates and goes on to case histories of about 20 famous New England pirates. Howes D-437. Gosse p. 32. Cover lightly sunned else VG $125 |
| 43. | Downs, John W. SPRAYS OF SALT. n.p. (1944) b/w plates. 167 pp. Old Salt’s recollection of life on the Isles of Shoals and surrounding New Hampshire waters. Sword and cod fishing, lobstering, clamming, etc. Scarce First edition, signed by the author. VG $100 |
| 44. | Duhamel du Monceau. (Henri-Louis). MOYENS DE CONSERVER LA SANTE AUX EQUIPAGES DES VAISSEAUX: AVEC LA MANIER DE PURIFIER L’AIR DES SALLES DES HOPITAUX... Paris. 1759. b/w folding plates. xvi, 252 pp. plus five folding plates. First and only edition of an important 18th century work on naval hygiene. The author was inspector general of the marine and he applied his scientific knowledge to the improvement of the navy, writing several books on marine architecture as well as this work which covers naval medicine, shipboard ventilation and sanitation, and preparation and storage anti scorbotic stores for long voyages. It is certainly one of the earliest works to embrace the ideas put forth by Lind on scurvy and by Hales on ventilation. (See Lloyd and Coulter III p. 72.) Polak 2861. Text and folding plates clean and fresh. Rebound in full calf with spine label. VG $1000 |
| 45. | (Dwight, Edwin Wells.) MEMOIRS OF HENRY OBOOKIAH. Elizabethtown, NJ. 1819. b/w frontis. 12mo. 104, 32, 33, 10, 10 pp. “After witnessing the massacre of his family, Obookiah... decided to leave Hawaii. ... an American ship touched at the islands, and Obookiah sailed by way of China to New York... Through Obookiah, interest was awakened in the Hawaiians, which led to the American mission in Hawaii in 1820.” — Hill 523. With several sermons on Obookiah following the memoir. Bound in original calf with label, covers worn. Pages evenly tanned, some staining. A Good copy. $150 |
| 46. | Edsall, (John.) INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF JOHN EDSALL. Catskill. 1831. 12mo. iv, 156 pp. “Served with Miranda’s expedition and, later, in the United States Navy, under Perry and McDonough in the War of 1812.”—Howes E 47. These War of 1812 adventures take up the latter third of the book, the first part being dedicated to his stuggles and imprisonment in South America. A scarce account, not in Smith. Handsomely bound in calf over boards with spine label. $500 |
| 47. | Enk, John C. A FAMILY ISLAND IN PENOBSCOT BAY. (Rockland, ME. 1973) Duotone endpaper charts, b/w plates. vii, 350 pp. History of Eagle Island, informed by oral history of the island’s primary residents. A real slice of Down East life and Maine history. VG, dj. Scarce. $85 |
| 48. | Ephemera. A PIECE OF WOOD FROM THE CLIPPER SHIP LIGHTNING. A piece of wood measuring 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, in a box addressed to collector Max Berman from Richard Orr at Mystic Seaport. With a brief note in the box, stating, “here is your piece of the Lightning.” signed by Orr. The Lightning was one of McKay’s famed extreme clippers, and a real speed merchant. This token is perfect for the clipper ship enthusiast such as Mr. Berman. $50 |
| 49. | Ephemera. ALBUM OF CLIPPER SHIP PHOTOS. 78 photos of square riggers and clippers ships; a few are reproductions of paintings, most are of the actual vessels. About half are large format, 8x10 or thereabouts. The rest range down to snapshot size. Most are old copies of archival 19th century negatives. Many Boston, Maine, Salem vessels, rigging details, figureheads, etc. A valuable trove of details for the historian, artist or modeler. $250 See Illustration |
| 50. | Ephemera. STUDENT’S LESSON BOOK WITH WHALING SCENE, 1847. Small folio, approximately 32 pages in manuscript. According to the inscription in front this book was done by James Hargrove in 1847. It consists of lessons and exercises in general math, computing interest, insurance and commission brokerage, barter, loss and gain, and other commercial operations. Of particular interest is the wood engraved whaling scene printed on the front cover, “Harpooning a Whale in the Arctic Seas” with several hundred words of descriptive text below. No publisher is given anywhere in the book, but the image and text were probably pirated from a popular magazine of the day. Printed on the back cover are addition and multiplication tables. Unusual. Light blue printed wraps. Minor wear, VG $100 |