Description

Houghton Mifflin, 1926. Hardcover, 192 pp. No other printings listed. In acceptable+ condition/ Missing dust jacket. Black cloth covered boards with blind stamped ship on front cover and gold lettering on spine. Covers have a bit of nicking and fraying to the cloth at the corner tips and top and bottom of spine. light overall scuffing and soiling to covers as well. Spine has few thin cracks but binding is still intact. Previous owner's book plate on front paste-down and some sticker residue on front free end paper. Pages are lightly aged but otherwise unmarked with occasional light spotting and soiling. NOT Ex-Library. NO remainder marks. A collection of old sailors' stories that paint an authentic and unforgettable picture of the sailor's life on old sailing ships. With a Foreword by Commodore Dir Bertram F. Hayes. Sketch Illustrations by I.P. Phillips. [From Preface] It is hoped that all who accompany us will spend many a pleasant "watch below" by the fire. If memories are stirred, if a smile comes, or if only a realization, however slight, of what the sea is to us - mistress, mother and heritage - then we voyage not in vain. I wish to acknowledge the courtesy of, and tender my thanks to, the Editors of the undermentioned publications, who have kindly consented to the reproduction of much of the matter contained herein : The Navy, The Nautical Magazine, The Canard Magazine, The Mersey, The Elder Dempster Magazine, The Seven Seas Magazine, The Birmingham Sunday Mercury, The Liverpool Echo, The Liverpool Weekly Post, The Liverpool Weekly Courier, The Liverpool Daily Courier, The Liverpool Express and many others. I wish also to thank Mr. D. W. E. Gutman for the splendid wrapper sketch supplied by him, and Mr. I. P. Phillips for the delightful sketches appearing at the head of each chapter. [From Foreword] I have been asked to write a Foreword for the book of short stories about the sea, and its superstitions and trials, which has been written by Mannin Crane, and is about to be published. I do so with very much pleasure, as in my early days at sea I feel sure I must have been shipmates with some of the old sailor men he writes about - "Dan Crellin" for instance. They are so true to life, in those days, that if I have not sailed with the actual individuals he mentions, I have at any rate been shipmates with their counterparts. I have also vivid recollections of being washed about the decks when wearing ship off Cape Horn just as he describes. I feel sure that the stories will be of interest to the reading public as they tell of a side of life with which they are not so well acquainted as, in my opinion, they ought to be, and I wish the Author every success in his venture.