Items 1-25
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1. “A Citizen of New York.” A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF COMM. JESSE D. ELLIOTT; CONTAINING A REVIEW OF THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN HIM AND THE LATE COMMODORE PERRY; AND A HISTORY OF THE FIGURE-HEAD OF THE U.S. FRIGATE CONSTITUTION. Phila. 1835. 480 pp. After the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, Elliott was accused by some of not giving Perry sufficient aid. Though he was vindicated by Congress the charges lingered and in 1818 Elliott challenged Perry to a duel. Perry tried to have him court martialed, but President Monroe wisely buried the unseemly affair. During Elliott’s command of the Boston Navy Yard, a prankster sawed the head off the figurehead of Andrew Jackson on the Constitution. The head has just recently been returned to the US. Howes J-68. Smith 2156, who ascribes the authorship either to Russell Jarvis, or Elliot’s great defender, James Fenimore Cooper. Howes says the author was Jarvis. Bound in original printed boards. Library sticker on spine, and stamp of Nantucket Athenaeum on title page - not a bad association. $300 |
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2. “A Young Traveller.” (George Miller). THE TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO MADEIRA AND THE WEST INDIES; BEING A HIEROGLYPHIC REPRESENTATION OF APPEARANCES AND INCIDENTS DURING A VOYAGE OUT AND HOMEWARDS... Haddington. n.d. (ca. 1815) Map and plates 119 pp. A most unusual work, presenting an entire narrative of a trip to the West Indies in 125 hieroglyphic figures on 9 plates. Fortunately these figures are accompanied by about 100 pages of text and 10 pages of notes, making this an informative, as well as a diverting account. It promises, “a description of the processes of sugar making and rum distillation; the different employments of clerk and overseer and bookkeeper, on the plantations...” There is also a list of figures and an index. Cundall 2145a. Cover rubbed, backstrip perished, pages tanned. Library book plate on front pastedown, and no other markings. Withall a most unusual work, in its original printed boards. $1500 |
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3. An Officer of the United States Navy. (Ruschenberger, W.S.W.) THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. Phila. 1834. xi-441 pp. Ruschenberger’s cruise aboard the Brandywine, 1826-29 and the Falmouth, 1831-34. “Seven chapters are devoted to Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, seven to Chile, two to Bolivia, and twenty-five to Peru.” Hill 1497. Borba de Moraes says, “This is the first edition... he writes about the manners, customs, architecture, coffee, slaves, etc., and about the library and theatres.” Borba de Moraes II, p. 755. This book used to be rather common, but is becoming scarce in the trade. Bound in original cloth and boards, with paper spine label intact. Some internal and cover staining, but a Good copy. $400 |
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4. Anon. CHARTER OF THE MARINE SOCIETY OF THE TOWN OF NEWPORT, IN THE STATE OF RHODE-ISLAND. Newport. 1806 (2)-23 pp “To which are added, the bye-laws, and a list of the members of the society.” This venerable group was founded as The Fellowship Club in 1754, then chartered as the Marine Society in 1785. A scarce book, Worldcat showing only nine libraries holding hard copies, though microform copies abound, probably because of the list of members that runs from pages 17-23 and spans the years 1752-1805. VG in original calf, rebacked to match. $350 |
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5. Anon. THE ROYAL REGISTER AND JAMAICA ALMANAC, FOR THE YEAR 1811. Kingston. (1811) 12mo. 220 pp. This work style itself “second edition.” Though no author or editor is given, Alex. Aikman, Junior is listed as publisher. Along with the usual almanac content - calendars, holidays, British Lists, and tables of various interest calculations, duties and fees - this work contains 40 pages pertaining to the Royal Navy, including lists of vessels and vessels under construction, and over 100 pages devoted to the British Army, which makes it of considerable interest given the 1811 date. This is a scarce imprint. Worldcat notes its existence as a serial publication but shows no libraries holding this particular year. VG in wallet-style limp leather binding. $750 |
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6. Anon. (Rathbone, Samuel and E.H. Greg) A NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE OF THE YACHT MARIA AMONG THE FEROE ISLANDS IN 1854. Lon. 1855. Color lithos, one folding. 4to. 89 pp. First edition of a rare and handsome book, containing descriptions and colored views of the Feroe Islands, and an account of a whale hunt in Westmannhavens Bay, with a folding colored lithograph depicting the action. Jenkins p. 104. Toy 927. Spine laid down, else a very nice copy bound in original cloth with portrait of the yacht in gold on the front board. $1250 |
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7. Ashley, H. Percy. HOW TO BUILD AN ICE YACHT. NY. 1914 b/w line plans and halftone ills. 4to. 29, (2 adverts.) pp. This Rudder publication gives several design choices, with plans, explanatory text, and detail drawings. It has become quite a scarce publication. Worldcat shows only seven libraries holding copies. VG in original pictorial wrappers. With newspaper articles about ice boats. $175 |
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8. Banning, Kendall and Gustave Baumann (illustrator). PIRATES! OR, THE CRUISE OF THE BLACK REVENGE. Chi. 1916. b/w woodcuts. 4to. Unpaginated - title, 15 folded sheets, endsheet. Humorous play in verse about the adventures of the pirate Captain Hawkes and his crew. Designed by Lawrence Woodworth and published in Chicago for the Brothers of the Book. Wonderful wood engraved illustrations. Black paper cover with scarlet Pirates! on the cover. A Fine, fresh copy of the first edition, one in a limited edition of 525 copies. $500 |
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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. $200 |
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10. Bourde de Villehuet, Jacques. THE MANŒUVERER, OR SKILLFUL SEAMAN: BEING AN ESSAY ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE VARIOUS MOVEMENTS OF A SHIP AT SEA, AS WELL AS OF NAVAL EVOLUTIONS IN GENERAL. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF MR. BOURDE DE VILLEHUET, BY THE CHEVALIER DE SAUSEUIL. ILLUSTRATED WITH THIRTEEN COPPERPLATES; FIVE OF WHICH, WITH MANY INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS INTERSPERSED THROUGH THE WORK, BY WAY OF NOTES, ARE THE PRODUCTION OF AN ENGLISH OFFICER. DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CLARENCE. Lon. 1788. Thirteen b/w plates, seven of which are folding. 4to. vi, viii, (8), vi & (310) pp. The first English translation of Le Manœuvrier, a seamanship classic compiled by Villehuet because of the inadequacies of existing marine dictionaries. It was first published in Paris in 1765. “Ship-Manœuvers had not yet been sufficiently elucidated, nor regularly explained, by men of the profession”…(Preface). The text, entitled “An Essay on Naval Tactics,” is divided into four parts: Part I, “On the Theory of Working Ships at Sea;” Part II, “The Theory applied to Practice;” Part III, “Various Observations on the Marine;” and Part IV, “On Naval Evolutions.” See A&W 248; Corbett’s Signals and Instructions, p.5; Maggs Bibliotheca Nautica, Part IV, 2412. An absolutely beautiful copy bound in antique style calf over marbled boards with label and gilt spine decorations. The book has one flaw - it lacks text page 235-236 which are supplied here in a modern copy, laid into the book. $950 |
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11. Bowdich, T. Edward. EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA AND PORTO SANTO, DURING THE AUTUMN OF 1823, WHILE ON HIS THIRD VOYAGE TO AFRICA; BY THE LATE T. EDWARD BOWDICH, ESQ... Lon. 1825. b/w and color plates, several folding. 4to. xii, 278 pp. “To which is added by Mrs. Bowdich, I. A narrative of the continuance of the voyage to its completion... II. A description of the English settlements on the river Gambia . III. Appendix, containing zoological and botanical descriptions, and translations from the Arabic.” Geology, natural history, and local customs and costumes of Madeira and Cape Verde Islands. According to the DNB Bowdich was taking surveys on this voyage at the mouth of the Gambia River, when he caught a fever and died, at the age of thirty-three. “The last chapter of her husband’s life was published by Mrs. Bowdich.” This copy with twenty-two full page plates, four of which are hand colored. Bound in original paper covered boards, rebacked. A tall untrimmed copy, with circular library stamps on the copyright page, the head of the preface and the last text page. Otherwise unmarked, with the color plates bright. $1250 |
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12. Brassey, Lady. (Annie Allnutt Brassey, Baroness.) TAHITI. Lon. 1882. 29 b/w photo plates. xii, 68 pp. In 1880 Colonel Stuart Wortley and his wife visited Tahiti, a place they loved. He was a noted photographer who made some technical advances in the collodion process, and whose photographs of Italy and Tahiti are still collected. He took some wonderful photographs during their stay in Tahiti, and she wrote the knowledgeable and entertaining text. The photographic reproductions in this edition have the rich velvety appearance of actual prints. Though the text shows light foxing around the outer edges, each print is clean and free of foxing, and is protected by a tissue guard. Bound in original decorated cloth with an island scene in gold green and blue, all edges gilt. Slight lean to spine and minor wear to corners and spine ends. WITH A FULL PAGE INSCRIPTION FROM THE AUTHOR, CHRISTMAS 1882. $1250 |
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13. Broadside. CAPTAIN ROBT. KIDD. NY. n.d. 4to sheet This is an interesting broadside poem of 101 lines, narrated by Captain Kidd, warning other sailors to steer clear of the criminal life. The lyrics have been reprinted in Lomax’s “American Ballads and Folk Songs” and in Joanna Colcord’s “Songs of American Sailormen.” Neither source reveals its origins, though Colcord, noting that the pirate’s name has been changed from William to Robert, refers to it as an “old song.” This broadside is undated. In fact the only imprint information is a line at the bottom reading, “Sold 134 Division-Street, New-York.” According to Worldcat this was the address of a publisher by the name of Elton in the 1830s, so I would date the broadside from that time. It is rare. Worldcat shows no libraries holding this broadside, though it does record many other works published by Elton. Tanned, with a few pinholes and creases along old folds, but no loss to text. $850 |
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14. Brodie, Walter. PITCAIRN’S ISLAND, AND ISLANDERS IN 1850. Lon. 1851. b/w plates. iv, 260 pp. “Brodie, while on his way from New Zealand to the California gold fields, was stranded at Pitcairn when his vessel was blown off shore. During his long visit, he wrote this account of the later events of the Bounty mutineers. He gives a very detailed list of all the Bounty’s descendants and a valuable shipping record of vessels calling at the island.” This is the third edition, identical to the first, and published in the same year, with list of subscribers and Brodie’s note asking them to please pay up! Howes B-797. Hill p. 34. Cowan, p. 73. Bound in original cloth with spine label , scarce thus, though binding is chipped. $350 |
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15. 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 |
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16. Bulkeley, John & Cummins, John. A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEAS, IN THE YEARS 1740-1741. CONTAINING A FAITHFUL ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP WAGER... Lon 1743. xx, 220 pp. Famous narrative of the Wager’s South Pacific voyage in 1740-41, written by the gunner and the carpenter of that ship. Huntress calls it “one of the most interesting of all narratives of shipwrecks, primarily because of what happened after the loss of the Wager... which was a store ship for Anson’s squadron.” After the shipwreck they mutinied against the Wager’s captain and sailed in a longboat back through the Straits of Magellan to safety in Brazil in “a masterpiece of endurance and suffering.” Huntress 50C. Hill 210. This copy tidily rebound in half leather over marbled boards, with spine labels. Faint old library stamp in lower corner of title, else an excellent copy. $1500 |
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17. Chapman, Henry Cleaver, and A.F. Jones. RULES FOR THE UNIFORM MASTING AND SPARRING OF MERCHANT SHIPS... WITH... SUGGESTIONS ON SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING Liverpool. (n.d.) ca. 1840. b/w folding frontis and engraved plate. 32 pp. Working from physical principles, such as “resistance increases as the square of the speed” Chapman, who was a ship owner himself, devises minimum standards of safe and secure rigging. Jones’ treatise is a little odder. At one point he goes on a tirade against use of the screw augur in ship building. Claims to be the “seventh edition” but few must have survived. Worldcat shows only two libraries holding copies. Bruzelius assigns a date of 1842. Bound in original printed wrappers. Front cover detached but present. Library blindstamp on title. Text and plates clean. $250 |
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18. Clarke, James Stanier and John M’Arthur. THE LIFE OF ADMIRAL LORD NELSON, K.B. FROM HIS LORDSHIP’S MANUSCRIPTS. Lon. n.d. b/w engraved plates and map Three vols. in two 526 and 500, 212, 2 pp First octavo edition of the classic Nelson biography, bound in full mottled calf with very nice old gilt stamped backstrips, with red spine labels. Discreet repair to chipping at bottoms of spines. Light foxing to text and plates but a handsome set overall. $500 |
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19. (Coast Survey) REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST SURVEY... 1854. Wash. 1855. b/w folding charts. 4to. 288 pp. plus 58 charts. This particular issue contains the first published engraving by James McNeill Whistler, chart #43, “Anacapa and Smith’s Islands” executed while he worked for the Coast Survey. The DAB calls Whistler's effort “rigidly but ably drawn.” The plate is in very good condition, with only light browning at the fold. Other maps are in VG condition with similar tanning at folds. They include harbor charts of Portland, Portsmouth, Gloucester, Plymouth, Monomoy, Nantucket Shoals, Beaufort Harbor, Savannah River, Charleston Harbor, etc., down through Florida and the Keys and up the West Coast. A clean copy, and the most desirable of the Coast Surveys (you can buy one online for $5000 if you like). Solidly bound in original government calf with spine labels. $850 |
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20. (Coast Survey) REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST SURVEY... 1858. Wash. 1859. b/w folding charts 4to. 463 pp. 40 charts and plates. Charts include Kennebec River, Rockport, Mass., Cape Fear, Charleston Harbor, San Francisco. Some tanning and edge browning. Bound in original government calf, which is stained and chipped. $400 |
| 21. (Coast Survey). REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE U.S. COAST SURVEY... 1860. Wash. 1861. 409 pp. and 30 charts. According to a printed note inserted at the beginning of the chart section, ten charts of southern ports originally intended for publication were withheld because of the war. Still, there are some wonderful charts in this volume, including Nantucket shoals and sound, Martha’s Vineyard, Buzzard’s Bay, Mobile Bay, and Drake’s Bay. Some of these fold out to considerable size. There is a marginal tear in the Nantucket chart, otherwise all are in Very Good condition, with only faint tanning at folds. Bound in worn government calf with spine label. $350 | |
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22. Crapo, Henry H. THE NEW-BEDFORD DIRECTORY... New-Bedford. 1841. vii-166 pp. plus 12 pp. ads. “Containing the names of inhabitants, their occupations, places of business and dwelling houses, and the town register, with lists of the streets and wharves... to which is added a list of whale ships belonging to the United States.” This is only the fourth directory of New Bedford. Crapo issued the first in 1836 and followed in 1838, 39 and 41. Quite scarce. See Forster 874. Bound in original printed boards with calf backstrip. Covers tanned, with some wear, but ads printed on the covers are still readable. Some interior foxing, but ads and text generally clean. With a card-mounted photo of the venerable New Bedford whaleship Morning Star (1850s - 1901) laid in. $1000 |
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23. Davidson, George. PACIFIC COAST. COAST PILOT OF CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 1869. Wash. 1869. b/w plates, some fldg. 262 pp. First edition of this early and important Coast Pilot of California... (Two earlier and smaller editions were designated “Directory for the Pacific Coast.”) The close description of the coast includes information on hazards, distinctive features and light houses. Also included are 32 b/w lithographed recognition views of distinctive parts of the coast, 3 of which fold. Bound in original boards with gold lettering. Boards and spine ends show some chipping. Text and lithographed illustrations are clean and fresh. A scarce and important pilot. $500 |
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24. de la Landelle, G. LE LANGUAGE DES MARINS. Paris. 1859. 444 pp. “A scholarly study of a technical vocabulary and of the influences which have formed it; has a word-list, with definitions.” Craig p. 45. Polak 5176. A near Fine copy in calf calf over marbled boards. Scarce. $350 |
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25. Duhamel du Monceau (Henri L.) NIEUWE EN ALGEMEENE BESCHOUWENDE EN BEÖEFENENDE SCHEEPS-BOUWKUNDE, TEN DIENSTE DER ZEEVAARDIJE VAN EUROPA, ONTWORPEN EN UITGEGEEVEN DOOR DEN HEER DU HAMEL DU MONCEAU Amsterdam 1791 24 b/w folding plates. 4to. x-349, xx pp. Rare Amsterdam 1791 reissue of a 1757 edition, itself a translation of the 1752 French edition, which was the most comprehensive and widely copied text on marine architecture in the 18th century. “Duhamel du Monceau... was inspector general of the marine, and applied his scientific knowledge to the improvement of naval construction.” - Scott 266, citing various editions. Along with French, Dutch and German editions, Mungo Murray translated parts of the text into his 1754 and 1765 English works on naval architecture. This is a beautiful copy of the influential text, clean and wide margined, with 24 folding plates. Bound as issued from the printer in marbled paper over pasteboard covers, with hand written paper label. $1250 |
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