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| 1. | Adams, Arthur. NOTES FROM A JOURNAL OF RESEARCH INTO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTRIES VISITED DURING THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. SAMARANG UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN SIR EDWARD BELCHER... Lon. 1848. b/w frontis. pp. 225-532. This is the separate issue of the second volume of Belcher's “Narrative of the voyage of H. M. S. Samarang.” Presumably it was issued this way for people interested in natural history, rather than the narrative of voyaging and exploration that comprised the first volume. In any event, it stands alone, as issued. As Hill notes (Hill 106), Adams was the surgeon to the expedition. This volume also includes a vocabulary of about a dozen far eastern languages, and, amidst all the natural history, reports of encounters with natives, pirates, and the author’s own experiments with opium. One vol., as issued, in 19th century half calf over marbled boards. $650 |
| 2. | Allen, Grant. CRUISE OF THE ALBATROSS. Bos. 1898. b/w plates. 121 pp. An adventure novel set in the South Pacific, interwoven with themes of social justice. It begins with the rescue of the human cargo of a Blackbirder. Time constraints prevented my getting any farther than that, but if I were on vacation, I’d have gobbled this period piece up. Allen was a freethinker who pioneered the fields of science fiction and detective novels. Light spotting to illustrated cover, else VG $35 See Illustration |
| 3. | American Steamship Company. PROCEEDINGS OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY... Bos. 1867. 21 pp. Boasting about, and describing, the flagship of this new line, “The Ontario.” She was a transitional vessel, fully ship rigged while at the same time being steam powered. An interesting artifact. Front wrap present but detached, back wrap lacking. Text clean. Good. $25 |
| 4. | “An Officer in the Navy” (Christopher Claxton). THE NAVAL MONITOR. Lon. 1815. xii, 268 pp. “Containing many useful hints for both the public and private conduct of the young gentlemen, in, or entering, that profession, in all its branches. In the course of which, and under the remarks on gunnery, are some observations on the naval actions with America. Also, a plan for improving the naval system, as far as it regards the most useful set of petty officers, the midshipmen...” The author praises American gunners and armaments. By way of improvements he suggests earlier education, better pay and spiffier uniforms for young candidates. Pages spotted. Ownership stamp from Universal Pictures (!) at bottom of title page. Rebound in antique style calf over boards, with gilt rules and label. Scarce. OCLC shows only 4 libraries holding copies of this first edition. $850 See Illustration |
| 5. | Anon. ABSTRACT FROM CHAPTER XIV. OF THE REVISED STATUES, OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH... N.p. N.d. (Ca. 1832, New York.) 16mo. 8 pp. This little booklet outlines the duties of Masters and Pilots when arriving in the port, with regard to quarantine regulations, and the penalties for failing to do so - a $100 fine. This was doubtless promulgated in response to the cholera epidemic of 1832, in which 3000 died in New York alone. The Public Health Act, legislated in response to the epidemic, for the first time created local health boards and statewide standards. Rare. OCLC shows no libraries holding copies. Stitched, in marbled wrappers. $300 See Illustration |
| 6. | Anon. FISHWIVES’ & FISHGIRLS’ COSTUMES. Lon. n.d. but circa 1883 Color and b/w ills. and plates. 4to. 104, (2) pp. “A souvenir of the Illustrations of the fisherwomen delegates to the exhibition, and also characteristic costumes worn by fisherfolk in various parts of the world.” Six chromolithographs and twenty-one sepia linecuts are accompanied by pages of text describing the fisheries of each nation or part of the world. In a 19th century cloth binding, rebacked, but obviously issued in illustrated wrappers, which are bound in here. A whimsical and wonderful combination of costume and fisheries information. Scarce. OCLC shows only four libraries holding copies $350 See Illustration |
| 7. | Averill, Charles E. THE PIRATES OF CAPE ANN; THE FREEBOOTER’S FOE. Boston. n.d. b/w ills. 100 pp. A potboiler that begins and ends in Gloucester Harbor. Wright I, 208, who gives a date of 1848, based on an advertisement on the back wrapper. Original illustrated wrappers. Outer edges chipped. Printer’s error on page 9 resulting in the loss of a few lines of text. Old stab holes along spine. A Good copy overall. $250 See Illustration |
| 8. | Baker, William A. THE BOSTON BOATS. FROM SAIL TO STEAM. Bath. (n.d.) b/w ills. Unpaginated. (20 pp.) Treatise by this respected marine architect, author and historian on several centuries of boats that plied the seas between Boston and Maine. Offprint from “Maine Historical Soc. Newsletter.” Slightly smudged, still VG $20 See Illustration |
| 9. | Barney, Mary, ed. A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE LATE COMMODORE JOSHUA BARNEY. Bos. 1832. b/w frontis. xvi, 328 pp. An early and detailed biography of a universally respected figure on whom not much has been written, this work is a major source. Smith calls it, “Very good on his War of 1812 endeavors.”—Smith II, 523. Howes B-160. A tall, untrimmed copy, bound in original cloth with label. Foxed, with some wear to binding, but a good copy of a scarce title. $300 See Illustration |
| 10. | (Barrow, John). A DESCRIPTION OF PITCAIRN’S ISLAND AND ITS INHABITANTS. WITH AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THE MUTINY OF THE SHIP BOUNTY... NY. 1861. b/w engravings. 12mo. xii-303 pp. Barrow edited this work, which was based on a similar one published in London in 1831. This later printing contains an added quotation by C.S. Stewart. One of the series of Harper’s Family Library. Hill 71. O’Reilly & Reitman 573. Spine ends and cover lightly worn, else VG. $75 See Illustration |
| 11. | Beebe, George. BEEBE’S TIDE TABLES AND COMPLETE RIVER GUIDE FOR NEW YORK, BROOKLYN AND NEW JERSEY. NY. 1922. b/w folding maps, 12mo. 95 pp. Wonderful vintage ads, pilot rules and directories of steamship lines. But the true glories of this little book are its folding charts of the East River and the Hudson showing docks, piers and shoreline features, identified on the maps. VG $85 See Illustration |
| 12. | Benjamin, Park. THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY. NY. 1900 b/w plates, folding frontis. xvi, 486 pp. “Being the yarn of the American Midshipman... showing his life in the old school frigates... and then at the Naval School in Annapolis; and how that institution became a famous war college...” Inscribed by author. VG $125 See Illustration |
| 13. | Benson, Frederick J. RESEARCH, REFLECTION AND RECOLLECTIONS OF BLOCK ISLAND. (RI. 1977). b/w. x, 147 pp. Chapters on houses, natives, shipwrecks, lighthouses etc. Inscribed by author Benson, “age 85 years.” VG-Fine $50 |
| 14. | Besson, Maurice. SCOURGE OF THE INDIES. NY. 1929. Color and b/w plates. 4to. 330 pp. Besson’s handsomely illustrated and well-told history of the buccaneers of the West Indies in the 16th-18th centuries, with handcolored maps and b/w plates from earlier sources. One in a limited American edition of 1040 copies. A little soiling to cover, but still VG $75 See Illustration |
| 15. | Blachford, Michael. MEMOIR OF THE NORTH & SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN, CONTAINING SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR NAVIGATING THE COASTS OF FRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL, THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA, THE AZORES, MADEIRA, CAPE VERDS.... London. 1847. folding b/w maps. viii, 21, 429 pp. Later edition of a pilot by Michael Blachford, published by Imray. Detailed sailing directions for the above areas plus the Atlantic coasts of North and South America. With 11 double page charts of various ports. Binding broken, spine perished. Priced accordingly. $50 See Illustration |
| 16. | Bodfish, Captain Hartson. CHASING THE BOWHEAD. Cambridge, MA. 1936. b/w plates. ix, 281 pp. Arctic whaling as told by one of its leading 20th century practitioners, Bodfish being one of the first to purposely winter in the north. Five line inscription by Bodfish. Arctic Bib. 1791. Jenkins p. 81. VG in tattered dj. $100 |
| 17. | Bradbury, Charles. HISTORY OF KENNEBUNK PORT: FROM ITS DISCOVERY BY BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, MAY 14, 1602 TO A.D. 1837, Kennebunk. 1837. b/w frontis. 301 pp. First edition of a vintage New England town history, written in that fulsome 19th century manner, loaded with local tidbits and genealogical notices, not to mention an early engraving of a Maine quarry as frontispiece. A rather scarce example - as Williamson notes, “The town authorized a subscription of five hundred copies to be distributed among the families.” - Williamson, 1545. Foxed, but still a good copy. Bound in half leather over cloth. $350 See Illustration |
| 18. | (British Parliament) ANNO REGNI GEORGEII II... AN ACT FOR CONTINUING THE SEVERAL LAWS... Lon. 1740 4to. 3 leaves. “Relating to the premiums upon the importation of masts, yards, and bowsprits, tar, pitch, and turpentine; to British made sail cloth... to the Greenland, and to the Whale Fishery; for granting a further bounty for all ships employed in the whale fishery during the present war; for exempting harpooners and others employed in the Greenland fishery trade from being impressed...” This and similar acts were vital in spurring the growth of the northern whale fishery during the period of the War of Austrian Succession. Bound in modern morocco over marbled boards with gold spine lettering. VG $150 |
| 19. | Broadside. THE LOSS OF LIFE AT SEA. Broadsheet measuring 8 x 8 inches recounts in ten quatrains a disastrous storm that swept the fleet on George’s Bank in the winter of 1860, drowning 36 Gloucester fishermen. See the “Fishermens Memorial and Record Book” p. 22. No author, place, or date given, but slug at the bottom reads, “Published and sold by Mrs. E.R. Sexton” The Gloucester Directory for 1869 (see below) has a listing for an Esther Sexton “widow.” Some foxing, mounted on pasteboard. Rare. $500 See Illustration |
| 20. | Broadside. “THE SMALLEST BOAT THE EVER CROSSED THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.” Folio sheet 11 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches. The top third of this sheet is an engraving of the ship-rigged “Red White and Blue,” with two men lounging beside her to give an indication of scale, “taken from a photograph made at the Crystal Palace, London.” The text brags that the 29 foot vessel made an Atlantic crossing in 34 days “against head winds and during very tempestuous weather.” Indeed, Google has unearthed an 1866 newspaper article documenting this voyage, which was apparently undertaken to promote “Ingersoll’s Great American Boat and Oar Bazaar” - as it is styled in this broadside, with “over 100 race, row, sail, fancy, ship and metallic life boats on hand.” Unusual. Lower corner and left edge chipped, not affecting text or images. Tender at folds. $200 See Illustration |
| 21. | Browne, J. Ross. CRUSOE’S ISLAND... NY. 1864. b/w plates and ills. vii, 436 pp. First edition. “A ramble in the footsteps of Alexander Selkirk. With sketches of adventure in California and Washoe.” Brown, an accomplished journalist, recounts his 1849 journey to Juan Fernandez, as well as those of other early voyagers, and Selkirk himself. His text is adorned with interesting and occasionally humorous drawings of scenery and California Gold Rush characters. Cowan, p. 78. Howes B-876. Old bookseller’s blindstamp on front blank. Good. $200 See Illustration |
| 22. | Chapelle, Howard I. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SAILING SHIPS. NY. 1935. b/w and color plates, signed etching. xvii, 400 pp. A standard and still useful survey of American craft, with lines plans and views. This is copy #4 in a limited edition of 125 signed by Chapelle, with a signed etching and tipped in color plates by marine artist George C. Wales. A Fine copy bound in full blue cloth with red spine label. $250 See Illustration |
| 23. | Clark, Mrs. D.O. SLAYING THE DRAGON. A STORY OF CAPE ANN LIFE. NY. 1888. b/w frontispiece. 267 pp. This is a temperance story of drunken fishermen and their redemption, in the manner of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, but much scarcer. Worldcat shows copies only in the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia. VG in original Victorian decorated cloth binding. $150 See Illustration |
| 24. | Colledge, J. J. SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY. Newton Abbot, UK, (1969,1970). 2 vols. 400-624 pp. First editions of the most useful set. The first volume “covers about 13,000 ships, the Navy’s principal vessels... with their dimensions, builders, dates and fates.” The second adds “Navy-built trawlers, drifters, tugs and requisitioned ships.” Both vols. indexed. VG, dj. 2 vols. $125 |
| 25. | Cooper, Betty M. (compiler). CATALOG OF THE SCOTT COLLECTION OF BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, PRINTS AND DRAWINGS. Lon. 1954. b/w frontis., plates. 4to. 191 pp. This catalog constitutes a useful bibliography of marine architecture, particularly for earlier material. One of the few reliable guides in the field. Limited edition facsimile, VG-Fine. $55 |