Maritime List 187

Items 1-25

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1. Adams, Thomas R. and David Waters. ENGLISH MARITIME BOOKS PRINTED BEFORE 1801. Providence, RI. 1995. 4to. xxxi, 602 pp. Includes holdings in the US and Britain “relating to ships, their construction, and their operation at sea.” Amazingly, this essential bibliography has been allowed to go out of print. Light wear, but a VG copy of a most useful book. $400
2. American Board of Commissioners. INSTRUCTIONS TO THE MISSIONARIES ABOUT TO EMBARK FOR THE SANDWICH ISLANDS... Bos. 1823. 21 pp. The first 14 pages are a sermon by J.P. Evarts to missionaries about to depart for Hawaii on the New Haven missionary ship Thames. Includes references to Hawaii and other missions. Forbes 561. Removed from larger volume. VG $200
3. American Shipmasters’ Association. RECORD OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN SHIPPING... 1880. NY. 1880. (11 pp. supplement), lxix, 1011, (1) pp. One of the American serial listings of vessels, but with more information on each vessel than is present in the Lists of Merchant Vessels (with information on owner, builder, where built, rig and dimensions) and including foreign vessels. Bound in full leather with gold stamping. Some scuffing, front cover detached but present. $250
4. Anon. AN EXPLANATION OF THE WORKS OF THE THAMES TUNNEL NOW COMPLETED FROM ROTHERHITE TO WAPPING. Lon. 1856. b/w fldg. maps and plates. Oblong 12mo. 31 pp. The Thames Tunnel, the first to run under a navigable river, was designed by the great engineer and marine architect Marc Isambard Brunel whose patented "tunnel shield" made the work possible. Earlier efforts to tunnel under the Thames had met with failure. Begun in 1825 the tunnel was finally opened in 1843. Various editions of this work were published by the Directors of the project as a promotional piece before the tunnel was finished. This eighteenth edition testifies to the ongoing allure of the engineering marvel under the Thames. In the first four months after its completion more than a million people passed through the long awaited route. Bound in original illustrated stiff paper wrappers with paper title label. With eleven plates and maps, some folding, one with an overlay. Minor chipping, VG $350
5. Anon. CATALOG OF THE NAVAL MODELS IN THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM. Lon. 1865. b/w albumen prints. 160 pp. “Part I. - Admiralty Collection of Models, &c. Part II. - Collection of Models from Private Sources.” This catalog includes detailed descriptions, both of the actual vessel, and of the model of same. However it is noteworthy primarily for the thirty-four albumen photographs of these models. The publishing date, 1865, is early for such a production. The book is bound in half black calf over boards, and the photographs are in excellent condition, with only occasional light foxing at edges of some pages. Not in “Truthful Lens.” $1250
6. Anon. LES PETITS NAUFRAGÉS, VOYAGE INTÉRESSANT DE GEORGES ET EDOUARD LEDUC PAR MME LOUISE DE M*** Paris. 1825. b/w engravings. 12mo. 208 pp. Pretty little French juvenile, no doubt written for instructive purposes. Georges and Edouard voyage to Senegal for jungle adventures, but on the voyage they see a “serpent monstrueux.” I’ll leave the rest to those who have some French and sufficient interest to explore this tome. Apparently quite scarce. Worldcat shows only the Bibliotheque Nationale holding a copy. Bound in original blind stamped black calf with gilt lettering and decoration. $150
7. Anon. MEMOIR OF ROBERT BOWNE MINTURN. NY. (1871). b/w photo frontispiece. 353 pp. Minturn, born in 1805, began his career in the counting house of Preserved Fish and Joseph Grinnell. On their retirement in 1832, he took the firm over, and Grinnell & Minturn became one of the most powerful New York houses, eventually moving into shipping with the Welds of Boston. Donald McKay’s clipper ship The Flying Cloud sailed under the Minturn flag. He died in 1866, wealthy and well-mourned. This biography was written as a tribute, for his descendants. It features an albumen photo portrait of the great man as a frontispiece. Ex-lib New England Historical and Genealogical Society, with their bookplate and circular blindstamp. A good clean copy otherwise. $250
8. Ashley, Clifford W. WHALESHIPS OF NEW BEDFORD. Bos. 1929. b/w plates. 4to. vi, 60 plates. Sixty of Clifford Ashley’s drawings of whaleships and the whaling industry. First edition, limited to 1035 copies, with an enthusiastic introduction by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Custom bound in full crimson leather with raised bands and gilt cover and spine decorations and rules, and Ashley’s classic spouting whale embossed in gold on the front board. Inscribed, “Clifford W. Ashley / May 27th 1930” with his drawing of a swimming whale. One-of-a-kind. In Fine condition. $450
9. Astrup, Eivind. WITH PEARY NEAR THE POLE. Phila. (1898) b/w plates and ills., folding map. 362 pp. Astrup was only 19 when he joined Peary on his expedition to northern Greenland in 1891. This is an account of that expedition and of Peary’s Second Arctic Expedition of 1893-1895. A large portion of the book is devoted to Eskimo customs, hunting techniques, religious beliefs and other aspects of Eskimo life and culture. First American edition, translated from the Norwegian by H.J. Bull. Arctic Bib. 777. A brilliant copy. $650
10. Beaglehole, J.C. THE ENDEAVOUR JOURNAL OF JOSEPH BANKS. 1768-1771. (Sydney. 1963). Color and b/w plates. 2 vols. xxvii, 476; xvi, 406 pp. Journal of Banks’ experiences and observations when, in his youth, he sailed with Cook as natural historian on the Endeavor. The journals are prefaced with a long introduction by Cook scholar Beaglehole on “The Young Banks,” which sets the stage for the writings that follow. 40 plates at the end of each volume. First Edition. Scarce. 2 vols. VG in dust jackets. $350
11. Beam, Philip C. WINSLOW HOMER’S MAGAZINE ENGRAVINGS. NY. (1979). b/w plates xi, 274 pp. Over 200 of Homer’s engravings as they appeared in Harper’s, Ballou’s Leslie’s, and other illustrated magazines of the day. A most useful reference. First edition in Fine condition with dj. $50
12. Brandt, Karl. WHALE OIL. AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. Stanford Univ. (1940) b/w charts. ix, 264 pp. Whale oil was an important global commodity well into this century. Most of this book is a history of whaling from a unique industrial perspective which follows the fishery and its products into the economy. With bibliography. Despite its less-than-scintillating title, an interesting and useful work. Library call numbers on backstrip, else clean in fresh unmarked dj. $100
13. Broadsheet. THE LONDON GAZETTE (SUPPLEMENT) #5673. PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY. , LONDON, 30 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 1718. Lon. 1718. Folio sheet, printed both sides. This is a detailed account of the English victory over the Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro, Sicily. Included are a list of the participants and a “List of the Spanish Ships which were in the Engagement of Cape Passaro” with the status of each ship of the Spanish fleet by name. Rare. No holdings recorded in ESTC or Worldcat. $1500
14. Broadsheet. THIS MORNING ARRIVE HERE CAPTAIN BYNG... (Lon.) 1718. Folio sheet. This newspaper broadsheet was a supplement to the London Gazette. It was issued to announce the destruction of the Spanish fleet by Byng off Cape Passaro, Sicily. The Spanish fleet consisted of twenty-six men-of-war, two fireships, four bomb vessels, seven galleys and several other ships with stores and provisions. Most of the larger ships were captured, burned or sunk by the British. A rare broadside “Extra.” ESTC T469152 identifies but a single location - the British Library. Worldcat shows no libraries holding copies. $850
15. Broadside. COMPOSED IN MEMORY OF JOHN TRUE GORDON AND LOUIS H. F. WAGNER. Rockland, ME. n.d. (1875?) Small folio sheet, 12 x 7 inches. “Who were hung at Thomaston, ME., June 25, 1875. Gordon - for the murder of his brother, wife and children. Wagner - for the murder of two women on the Isle of Shoals. Twenty-four four line stanzas celebrate the grisly crimes - “On the Isle of Shoals far out to sea / He went to kill these women - three / But one escaped to tell the tale / Which many a heart doth now bewail...” With wood engraved portraits of the two murderers. Old fold marks, light waterstain along right edge. Framed. A rare broadside. OCLC shows no libraries holding copies. This item is offered with a copy of Lyman Rutledge’s “Moonlight Murder at Smuttynose” which explains the crime in detail.
16. Broadside. ORDER PERMITTING PRISONERS OF WAR TO WALK INTO TOWN. n.p. n.d. Probably Dartmoor, England, ca. 1812. I have had similar written paroles, and printed forms accomplished in manuscript. But this is the first broadside parole I've seen. By Guantanamo standards, prisoners in England were allowed a surprising degree of freedom during the War of 1812. Sheet measures 17½ x 22¼ inches. Some holes at folds, with loss of a few letters, but rare. No copies appearing on Worldcat. $750
17. Bureau of Navigation. FLAGS OF MARITIME NATIONS. Wash. 1870. Color plates. (8) pp. Nineteen color lithograph plates show over 100 flags and pennants of the maritime nations of the world, including interesting examples from the Sandwich Islands and the Society Island (Tahiti). This is the second edition, the first having been published in 1861. Many of the pages are accompanied by newspaper articles and manuscript notes about the evolution of the designs pictured. Light waterstain in the upper quadrant of back pages, some scattered foxing, but a good or better copy overall. Bound in original government calf over boards, with gold cover lettering. These early issues are scarce and interesting. $300
18. Chart. SOUTH PACIFIC. 1890. A wonderful blueback chart published in London by Imray, showing the Pacific and its islands from Australia to the southern coast of South America. With 30 inset charts of islands and harbors. The chart measures 74 x 41 inches and is in excellent condition. $400
19. Chart. EAST INDIA ARCHIPELAGO. EASTERN PASSAGES TO CHINA AND JAPAN. Lon. 1886. A blueback chart published by Imray, showing water and islands from the Philippines to the China Sea. This is chart no. 6 in a series of 9. It measures 50 x 41 inches and is in very good condition, with only minor foxing and some wrinkles in the upper left corner. $200
20. Chart. HARBOR OF HONGKONG AND APPROACHES. 1886. Chart on heavy paper, measuring 44 x 33 inches, published by the US Navy Hydrographic Office. A light water stain along the lower left margin, else a clean chart. $100
21. Chart. NEWFOUNDLAND. SOUTHERN PORTION. 1875, corrected to 1892. Chart on heavy paper published by the US Navy Hydrographic Office. Chart measures 50 x 27 1/2 inches and shows Placentia and Fortune Bays, and other parts of the coast famous in fishing lore. $100
22. Chart. RICHARD PATTEN’S NEW & PARTICULAR CHART OF THE SOUTHERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA... INCLUDING THE WESTERN PART OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA 1832. Blueback chart measuring 78 x 32 1/2 inches showing the coast from Connecticut to Georgia. With inset charts of Savannah, Cape Fear, Occracock (sic) Beaufort, Hell Gate and Cape Lookout Shoals - and with no view of Cuba, despite what the title says. “Published by Richard Patten at his Navigation Warehouse 180 Water Street.” This is a rare and wonderful chart done by a rival and enemy of Blunt’s - the two had sued and countersued in the past. It is drawn in part from survey data taken by several Navy officers including Elliott, Young, Sinclair and Howell. See Guthorn pp. 13, 15. With the chipped label of New York instrument maker Alex. Megarey, 238 Water St. New York. Unfortunately it is in need of cleaning and restoration. Waterstained top and bottom, with a 19 inch tear from the right margin, and loss of a bit of the chart near the border. Left edge a trifle spotted and dusty. Quite usable as is, but could stand some TLC. This is the first example of Patten’s work I’ve had since I began in 1976. $450
23. Chatterton, E. Keble. STEAMSHIP MODELS. Lon. 1924. Color and b/w plates. 4to. 84 pp. plus 128 plates. Models of first steam craft to liners. #63 in a limited edition of 1000 copies signed by Chatterton. Light soiling and wear. $100
24. (City of Portland) REPORTS OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON PORTLAND HARBOR... Portland. 1857. b/w folding chart. 61 pp. “Accompanied by statistics of commerce, railways, etc.” As well as describing and documenting conditions in the inner and outer harbors, this report contains a large folding map of Portland and its wharves. Bound in original printed wrappers, lacking back wrapper. Ownership inscription of C.H. Davis, one of the Commissioners. VG $150
25. Cobb, Oliver W. ROSE COTTAGE. Easthampton, MA 1940. b/w photo ills. 79 pp. Rose Cottage, in Marion, Mass. was built in 1800 and served as the homestead of the Briggs family, which produced several noteworthy New England mariners. One of them, Benjamin Briggs, was captain of the ill-fated Mary Celeste. The tragic mystery is recounted in these pages, along with hitherto unknown details about the life and career of Briggs and other sea-dogs in his family. First edition in Fine condition, with corrections to text pasted in (probably a family copy). Scarce and interesting. $75
Items 26-50
List 187 Table of Contents
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