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| 76. | Manuscript. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, BY CAPT. LEWIS WARRINGTON. DATED 20 MARCH 1820 AT NORFOLK AND ADDRESSED TO AN UNIDENTIFIED “GENERAL.” Warrington probably writes to General Simon Bernard, French military engineer, with whom he was serving on a committee appointed by President Monroe to survey the Chesapeake Bay for sites best suited for the construction of fortifications and naval depots. “Your letter of the 14th came in good time, to prevent my supposing you had been run away with, or what is as bad, to prevent me from thinking that you had been delayed by want of materials, or an inability to procure such information as was necessary. ..” Warrington was one of the young officers who gained their initial naval experience under Edward Preble off Tripoli. He served on Vixen and commanded Siren and Enterprise in the Mediterranean between 1803 and 1807. He served on Essex, Congress and United States between 1811 and 1813 before assignment to command Peacock. In that sloop he captured the British sloop Epervier after a forty-two minute engagement in November 1814 for which he received a Congressional gold medal. Warrington commanded Macedonian and Java after the war, both on the Mediterranean station. He commanded the West India squadron (1824-1826), was twice a member of the Navy Board of Commissioners, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks (1842-1846), and died in 1851 while Chief of Ordnance. $300 |
| 77. | Manuscript. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, BY WILLIAM JONES, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, (1813-1814.) DATED 29TH JUNE 1813 AT THE NAVY DEPARTMENT (WASHINGTON), AND ADDRESSED TO JAMES BEATTY, NAVY AGENT, BALTIMORE. INTEGRAL ADDRESS LEAF WITH JONES' FREE-FRANK SIGNATURE AND WASHINGTON CITY CANCELLATION. Jones authorizes payment for Navy war-time expenses at Baltimore. $250 |
| 78. | Manuscript. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM A. CARNEGIE ON BOARD SUBMARINE NO. 8 AT CAIRO (ILLINOIS) DATED 22 SEPT 1861 AND ADDRESSED TO THE COMMANDER OF THE GUNBOAT A. O. TYLOR (I.E., TYLER). Carnegie requests Tyler’s commander, H. Walke, to return blocks borrowed from the “Bell Boat about ten days or two weeks ago.” Walke has written a note in pencil at the bottom of the letter, “The above blocks were sent by bearer of this note this 24 Sept.” Submarine No. 8, like her numbered sisters, was a privately owned mobile salvage platform, or “snag boat,” equipped with a diver’s bell to allow salvaging wrecks from the bottom of the Mississippi. In 1862 engineer James Eads received a government contract to convert Submarine No. 7 into a gunboat. Upon her completion, “she was considered the most powerful of the river gunboats, plated with three-and-one-half-inch iron and armed with sixteen heavy guns… (and) renamed the Benton.” (R. E. Johnson, Rear Adm. John Rodgers, 1812-1882, p. 166.) $200 |
| 79. | Manuscript. AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED. OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, ON BOARD THE SHIP JAVA, NOV. 10, 1814, TO WILLIAM JONES, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. Perry asks the Secretary to consider midshipman appointments for two young men. “I am anxious to introduce into the naval service as a Midshipman, Francis L. DeWolf, the son of James DeWolf, Esq’r of Rhode Island. Mr. DeWolf Sir is among the most able and decided supporters of the Government in New England, and his son, is an active and intelligent young gentleman. I beg leave also, to recommend Mr. James Campbell, a young gentleman of this City, for a Midshipman's warrant. He is of one of the most respectable families in Balt're and I am satisfied would be a credit to the Service.” Perry was successful in both cases; both young men received appointments to the rank of Midshipman dated 30 November 1814. DeWolf resigned in 1816, and Campbell last appears in naval records in 1815 attached to the Erie. Perry was awarded command of the new frigate Java, building at Baltimore, following his spectacular victory on Lake Erie. The war ended before Java was fitted for sea. Subsequent to the war, Java and her sister frigate, Guerriere, became the first ships assigned as midshipmen training vessels in the budding Navy. $2000 |
| 80. | Manuscript. AUTOGRAPH NOTE, SIGNED, BY W.S.W. RUSCHENBERGER, AUTHOR AND NAVAL OFFICER. DATED 22 AUGUST 1862 AT THE SURGEON’S OFFICE, NAVY YARD, BOSTON. Ruschenberger certifies a sailor is not ready to return to sea: “This is to certify that I have just examined Act’g Gunner Francis Beaufort, who has leave of absence for 14 days, dated on board the USS Carondelet, August 14th, and I am of the opinion that he is not in a condition of health to qualify him to return to his Duty at this time, and he probably will not be for several weeks.” This note is followed by an endorsement by Beaufort dated 22 August 1862 in Boston, apparently to the skipper of Carondelet. “On account of ill health I would respectfully ask for an extension of leave for two or three weeks. Should my health improve before that time I will rejoin my vessel immediately.” With a docket note on the verso signed by Commander A. M. Pennock referring the request to Captain H. Walke, commanding the Carondelet. $250 |
| 81. | Manuscript. AUTOGRAPPH DOCUMENT, SIGNED, BY CAPT. DAVID PORTER. DATED 5 MARCH 1823 ON THE U.S. SHIP PEACOCK, “OFF PORTO RICO.” “General Order. Every Vessel under my Command will on meeting any Foreign Vessel of War show her distinguishing Flag or the Number by which She is known.” Appointed to command the West India Squadron effective 31 December 1822, Porter did not arrive until 3 March 1823. This general order therefore was one of the first issued by Porter on station. David Porter was an extraordinary naval officer. He received his midshipman’s warrant in 1798, within a year was promoted to lieutenant, six years later to master commandant and in 1812 he was promoted to captain. In the Mediterranean against the Barbary powers he served on Enterprize, Chesapeake, New York and Philadelphia. Captured when the latter was surrendered after running aground off Tripoli in 1803 he was imprisoned in that city and released to the Constitution in 1805. During the War of 1812 he took Essex into the Pacific and created havoc among British whalers until finally defeated by Phoebe and Cherub off Valparaiso in 1814. $1000 |
| 82. | Manuscript. LETTER, SIGNED, BY CAPT. CHARLES STEWART. DATED 20 JULY 1849 AT THE COM(MAN)D(AN)TS OFFICE, U.S. NAVY YARD, PHILADELPHIA, AND ADDRESSED TO COMMANDER WM. H. GLENDY, U.S. SLOOP OF WAR ONTARIO, BALTIMORE. “On Monday next the 23rd inst. I shall send from this Station from thirty to forty recruits by the morning line of cars for Baltimore, and will thank you to have boats in waiting at the usual place to convey them from the cars, on board of the Ontario, where I have to request that dinner be provided for them. They will carry their grog with them.” Stewart’s naval career was long and productive. He was commissioned a Lieutenant in 1798 when he joined the frigate United States to cruise the West Indies in search of French privateers. He commanded the Experiment in 1800 and captured two French schooners and a privateer. Stewart next joined the Mediterranean squadron as first lieutenant of the Constellation. He commanded the brig Siren escorting Stephen Decatur in the Intrepid to burn the Philadelphia at Tripoli, and returned home in 1806 now commanding Constellation. For his victory over HMS Cyane and Levant during the War of 1812 while commanding Constitution, Congress voted him a gold medal and a sword. $350 |
| 83. | Manuscript. LETTER, SIGNED, BY LEVI WOODBURY, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY (1831-1834.) DATED 21 FEBRUARY 1832 AT THE NAVY DEPT. (WASHINGTON), AND ADDRESSED TO COMMODORE JAMES BARRON, COMMANDING THE NAVY YARD PHILADELPHIA. “Be pleased to order the Rendezvous to be opened at the station under your command, for the enlistment of prime seamen, and ordinary seamen, for three years for general service.” $175 |
| 84. | Manuscript. LOG OF A CRUISE FROM NEW YORK TO SHANGHAI AND SHANGHAI TO SAN FRANCSICO ABOARD THE RINGLEADER, 1877-1878. 214 pages of manuscript entries. Although the journal keeper tells us, “The Ship Ringleader on which I have taken passage is a full rigged Clipper Ship” she was actually more along the lines of a “down easter,” of slightly fuller model than the classic clipper ships. She was 1145 tons and 185 feet in length, built at Chelsea, Mass., and launched in 1868. Her cargo on this voyage was primarily case oil - kerosene. The Shanghai to San Francisco course was seldom travelled, and this trip was a rarity. Her run of 30 days for this part of the passage was a record at the time. Her captain was W.E. Bray, formerly master of the clipper ship Comet. This log was kept by a young man named George E. Peer, a passenger on the Ringleader and probably a relative of an owner, since he has tremendous access to the officers and their colleagues on other ships. Hence it has a chattier, more informative quality than an official deck log. Peer tells us the value of the cargo and the salaries of the officers, who the owners were and what their commercial arrangements were; he records incidents of shipboard life, including an excited and exciting account of going through a typhoon “with the wind blowing strong enough to carry a person off deck. I tell you it was a grand sight, had I not been scared half to death...” He also includes a substantial 38 page account of the ship’s stay at Shanghai, including a description of the port and its inhabitants, as well as his adventures at places like Cheap Jack’s. June 17th was the occasion of his 21st birthday, which he celebrated at Shanghai by taking an oath “not to drink, smoke, chew or swear for five years.” Peer’s journal is accompanied by a New Testament inscribed “Anjer, Java. Capt. W.E. Bray, ship Ringleader. Oliphant Co. Shanghae, China,” by a Swedish New Testament, by what appear to be 2 Chinese newspapers, by a folding chart tracking the Ringleader’s course, and by a photographic portrait of Captain Bray. Journal entries clean and legible. $3000 |
| 85. | Manuscript. MANUSCRIPT LETTER-BOOK OF CAPTAIN THOMAS BURTON, R.N., 1810-1822. Folio. Unpaginated (About 250 pp.) This book contains manuscript copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence related to the operation and administration of several Royal Navy warships under the sequential command of Captain Thomas Burton, RN. Included are the sloop Primrose, and the ships Prince of Wales, Nelson, and Aquilon. The letter-book provides a rare glimpse of naval affairs of the Napoleonic Wars in the Baltic, the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean including orders from Saumarez in the Baltic and Lord Exmouth at Naples. Despite a two year gap from May 1812 to August 1814 when Burton was apparently ashore, there is considerable material relative to the War of 1812.. For example, “The Constitution left Boston on the 17th December and joined the Congress of Portsmouth the same afternoon. The President and Hornet had sailed before from New York; Macedonian and Peacock also reported to be at Sea. It is presumed by me that they will form a junction on some particular Rendezous.... (Signed) G. R. Collier, Captain (HMS) Leander, 22nd Jan’y 1815.” Burton later received the following directions: “Having received information of the American Frigate Constitution being off the North Coast, it is my directions that you move down below Belem in His Majesty’s Ship under your command together with such other Men of War as may be in the Tagus - for the purpose of being victualled by this Ship - in order to proceed in pursuit of the Enemy... (Signed) C. Fleming Rear Admiral, His Majesty’s Ship Elizabeth, Off the Bar of Lisbon, 20th Feb'y 1815.” Text clean and legible. Fine condition in old vellum. $3750 |
| 86. | Manuscript. MASTER’S JOURNAL OF VOYAGES MADE IN THE CLIPPER SHIP FLORENCE, 1857-1858. CAPTAIN PHILLIP DUMARESQ. 4to. 183 pages of manuscript entries. The Florence was fresh off the ways when this journal was written, having been launched in east Boston in 1856. Her early years represent a conjunction of some of the great names in American maritime history. She was built by the famed Samuel Hall for John Murray Forbes and Robert Bennett Forbes, the legendary brothers who’d made their millions in the China trade. Her master, Philip Dumaresq, was a personal friend of the Forbeses; he’d become famous as a captain of the Romance of the Seas and other outstanding clippers, and had worked for the brothers in the opium trade. He was nearly at the end of his career, but the unexpected deaths of his wife and daughter caused him to invest with the Forbes brothers in the Florence in hopes of diverting himself from grief. He supervised her building and rigging, and then took command of her. This log begins with the return portion of her first voyage - from Shanghai to New York in 1856-7. It continues with voyages from New York to Hong Kong in 1857, Hong Kong to Shanghai, 1857, and Shanghai to New York, 1858. It is written in Dumaresq’s hand, and it opens with his careful notes on ballasting and loading his new ship, and on port events in Shanghai. He primarily records in detail his sail handling and navigation. Fairburn has this to say about Dumaresq and his Florence: “Dumaresq was a courageous driver with an uncanny sense in regard to putting on and taking in canvas. Other skippers... marvelled at ‘the foolhardy way Dumaresq piled on canvas...’ but there was nothing foolhardy about Dumaresq... An examination of the logs of the Florence... shows that he drove his medium-full Florence at the speed of the sharp ended extreme clippers... Dumaresq said, ‘Why not? I have a real ship with something to her under me, and everything above deck is right and I know it will stand.’” - Fairburn p. 3864. A truly wonderful piece of Americana. Clean and legible in securely bound journal housed in chemise and handsome half morocco slipcase with gold lettering. You can examine this log yourself for $3500 |
| 87. | Manuscript. MORGAN, C(HARLES) W., CAPTAIN U.S.N. (1790-1853) A.L.S. DATED 9 NOVEMBER 1849 ABOARD THE “FLAG SHIP INDEPENDENCE” AT SPEZIA BAY, AND ADDRESSED TO AN UNIDENTIFIED INDIVIDUAL; POSSIBLY N. NILES, U.S. CHARGE D’AFFAIR AT SARDINIA. 4 pp. Morgan, now Commanding U.S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean, writes regarding U.S. relations with France, and the burdensome nature of quarantines in Italian ports. Morgan received his midshipman’s warrant in 1808. He served as a Lieutenant aboard Constitution under both Hull and Bainbridge during her actions with both Guerriere and Java. For his gallantry during those actions he was promoted to Lieutenant and awarded a sword by the Virginia legislature. $250 |
| 88. | Manuscript. PRIVATEER DOCUMENT; SIGNED. 17 JUNE 1778. Folio sheet, 13 1/8" x 8". Partially printed. This is a bond promising to operate in accordance with the lawful provisions required of commanders of private armed vessels. The commander of the private armed brig Vengeance, Wingate Newman and others, promise not to exceed the authority specified in their commission and to conduct themselves and their crew accordingly or forfeit “three thousand pounds lawful money” to Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress. Signed by Newman, Joseph Marquane and Isaac Green Pearson, all of Newbury Port, County of Essex in Massachusetts Bay. Wingate Newman and Vengeance were a most successful coupling. Gardner Allen in Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, (Cambridge, 1927), p.314, quotes a 4 October 1778 letter from Newman published in the Boston Post dated 9 January 1779, as follows: “On the 17th of September, in Latt. 49 N. and Long. 20 West, fell in with the ship Harriot, Packet of sixteen guns and forty-five men,…from Falmouth bound to New York which, after a small resistance, struck. I manned her and ordered her for Newbury-Port. And on the 21st of the same month fell in with the Snow Eagle, Packet from New York bound to Falmouth,…mounting fourteen carriage guns and sixty men including some officers of the British Army, which, after an engagement of about twenty minutes, was obliged to strike to us, which I likewise ordered for Newbury-Port. Col. Howard of the 1st Regiment of Guards was killed and several other officers, and a number wounded. Lucky for me, not one man killed or wounded except myself, by a musket ball in the thigh… Among the passengers was four Colonels, three Majors, one Cornet of dragoons… I have delivered my prisoners to the British Commissary residing here (Coruna), taking his receipt for the same, obligating him to return a like number of American prisoners of equal rank.” See Illustration $3000 |
| 89. | Manuscript. TWO PAGE AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, BY CAPT. CHARLES MORRIS. DATED 31 MARCH 1815 ON BOARD THE U.S. FRIGATE CONGRESS (AT PORTSMOUTH, N. H.) AND ADDRESSED TO “CAPT JNO. O. CREIGHTON, U.S. NAVY, PROVIDENCE, R. ISLAND.” WITH INTEGRAL ADDRESS LEAF AND CANCELLATION. Morris writes his old friend while still in the shipyard plagued by lack of assets to get Congress to sea. “...I am completely at a stand without men, or money & such weather that I cannot even supply mechanics. What are you going to do with yourself? To the Lakes or remain on your present station? I think you will meet me in the Mediterranean…” Morris was another of Preble’s boys whose heroics at sea during the War of 1812 and mature management of the Navy in the post-war years formed the very fiber of the Navy. After war was declared in June 1812 Morris joined the frigate Constitution as Isaac Hull’s First Lieutenant. Severely wounded while leading the boarding party during Constitution’s victorious action with Guerriere in August 1812, he was meritoriously promoted to captain (the first so promoted since Decatur received that honor for burning Philadelphia at Tripoli) and, after recuperation, assigned to command Adams, then Congress (from which command this letter was written). $350 |
| 90. | Manuscript. TWO PAGE AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM CAPT. WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE TO CAPT. JOHN DOWNES. DATED 3 JULY (1817) AND ADDRESSED TO CAPTAIN JOHN DOWNES ON BOARD THE 74 GUN SHIP OF THE LINE INDEPENDENCE THEN REFITTING AT CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS. Bainbridge, then commanding Independence, issues instructions to his second-in-command for the Fourth of July ceremony honoring President James Monroe’s visit to Boston. “Since I saw you the President has determined to set out from the Wharf to visit the Forts at half past 7 o'clock instead of 6. You will therefore have everything ready at 1/2 past 7. The three Boats to be on shore at 1/2 past 7. When the President leaves the Wharf either in the Revenue Cutter or the Independence Boat, man the yards; When he has just past the Independence fire a salute of 20 Guns. As he returns pay the same Ceremony of Respect. Let our Ship show to the Best Advantage, yards neatly squared, &c., &c., &c.” Bainbridge was commissioned a Lieutenant in the new Navy in 1798, and in 1800 commanded the frigate George Washington in which he was forced by the Dey of Algiers to carry tribute to Constantinople. Returning to the coast of Tripoli in command of the new frigate Philadelphia he ran aground off that city in 1804 while pursuing a Tripolitan corsair, subsequently losing his ship and spending the next 19 months a prisoner of war. Relieving Isaac Hull in command of the frigate Constitution near the end of the first year of the War of 1812, Bainbridge had the good fortune to engage and soundly defeat HMS Java. He assumed command of the 74-gun ship Independence at the end of the war and sailed for the Mediterranean to assume command of the forces arrayed once more against the Barbary powers. He was disappointed on arrival on that station to find Stephan Decatur had already secured that objective. Bainbridge was Decatur’s second at the tragic duel between Decatur and James Barron in which the former lost his life. $850 |
| 91. | Melville, Herman. MOBY DICK OR THE WHALE. NY. 1930. b/w plates. xxxi, 822 pp. First trade edition of the Moby with Rockwell Kent illustrations. A great interpretation of a great book, it should be in everyone’s library. Random House, in its elation over securing the rights to Kent’s masterpiece, forgot to put his name on the dustjacket or cloth binding. A VG copy in dj. which shows some chipping at corners and spine ends. $300 |
| 92. | Moresby, Capt. John. DISCOVERIES & SURVEYS IN NEW GUINEA AND THE D’ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS. Lon. 1876. b/w plates. duotone and folding maps. xviii, (1), 327 pp. “A cruise in Polynesia and visits to the pearl-shelling station in Torres Straits of H.M.S. Basilisk.” Scarce account, beautifully bound in full turquoise morocco with raised bands, gilt rules and label. Spine lightly sunned. See Illustration $750 |
| 93. | Morris, Paul C. and Joseph F. Morin. THE ISLAND STEAMERS. Nantucket, 1977. b/w plates. 4to. ix, 196 pp. Steamboats to Nantucket and the Vineyard, from 1818 on. With newspaper articles, photographs and a postcard of a steamer laid in. VG, chipped dj. $125 |
| 94. | Morris, Paul C. and William P. Quinn. SHIPWRECKS IN NEW YORK WATERS. (Orleans, MA 1989) b/w plates. 4to. x, 246 pp. Shipwrecks from Montauk Point to Barnegat Inlet, 1880s-1930s. First edition. VG-Fine, dj. $50 |
| 95. | Mudie, Rosemary and Colin. POWER YACHTS. Lon. (1977). b/w. 4to. 286 pp. Survey of all types of power yachts by this team of designers. VG, dj. $20 |
| 96. | Musgrave, Thomas. (John J. Shillinglaw, ed.) CASTAWAY ON THE AUCKLAND ISLES: A NARRATIVE OF THE WRECK OF THE GRAFTON... Melbourne. 1865. Fldg. map. vii, 112 pp. Musgrave’s ship ran aground and broke up in the Auckland Islands in 1864. After a year and a half on the island, Musgrave and some of his men sailed a 13 foot dinghy to New Zealand, where they despatched a ship for the rest of the crew. A wonderful shipwreck and survival narrative, not in Huntress. This is the first edition, issued in wrappers, which are bound in here. It is quite scarce. It was followed in 1866 by a London edition which is more common. See Ferguson 13030. Original wrappers bound in black cloth, with seal and bookplate of Thomas Parkin. $500 |
| 97. | Muzzey, Henry M. RICHARD HENRY DANA. Cambridge. 1882. 7 pp. Obituary of the lawyer and author of “Two Years Before the Mast”, printed from the Cambridge Tribune. Creased, else VG in wraps. $50 |
| 98. | O.J.H. (Omar J. Humphrey.) WRECK OF THE RANIER. Portland, ME. (1887.) 148 pp. The unfortunate Rainier was built in Maine in 1883. After a collision in the Delaware she finally managed to leave for Japan. She was wrecked on a coral reef enroute. The crew built a schooner and sailed to safety. There are plenty of natives, high adventure and Yankee ingenuity. The Captain even brought his daughter with him. There may be a movie here. VG in original cloth binding. $200 |
| 99. | Papadopoulos, Stelios A. (editor). THE GREEK MERCHANT MARINE (1453-1850) n.p. 1972. b/w and color plates. 4to. 504 pp. A lavish production by the National Bank of Greece, authoritatively written and wonderfully illustrated, tracing evolution of vessels and cargoes throughout Greece’s long maritime history. Long pen presentation on front bank, else Fine copy in dj. and slipcase. $100 |
| 100. | Parker, Captain H. and Frank C. Bowen. MAIL AND PASSENGER STEAMSHIPS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Phila. n.d. Color, b/w plates. 4to. xxvii, 324 pp. plus 170 b/w plates. Illustrated with examples from the MacPherson Collection. With vessel descriptions and histories. The standard source. A very nice copy in dj. $350 |