Description
Nantucket Historical Trust, Published 1972. Hardcover, 135 pp.; 24 cm; printed by Poets Corner Press, Nantucket; bibliography, index.
Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997
112
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Catalog notes
Condition & notes
In Good condition, no dust jacket. Red cloth boards, black lettering on front board only, spine unlettered; mild shelf wear with some color loss along edges and hinges, light spotting and soiling to boards, a faint ring mark on lower rear board. Binding tight. Previous owner's name, "Nantucket," and a 1977 date in ink on front free endpaper; owner's blind library stamp on title page, showing through on verso. Slight soiling to fore-edge of text block. Pages mildly toned, otherwise unmarked. Historical novel of Peter Folger (1617-1690), told in 29 dated chapters from his 1635 crossing on the Abigail as a Norfolk grammar-school boy to the Oldest House at the end of his life. Folger surveyed the island for the first proprietors (the novel has Macy, Coffin, and Starbuck questioning him over his map at Salisbury in 1659 before they buy), learned Algonquin under John Eliot and served as interpreter to the Nantucket Indians, and married Mary Morrill, the bond-servant he met aboard ship. The title refers to the "half-share men," the tradesmen and later settlers whose quarrel with the full-share proprietors put Folger in jail for refusing to surrender the book of court records; a footnote directs readers to the surviving records at the Nantucket Town Hall. Their youngest daughter Abiah married Josiah Franklin. Begun in 1963 under Dr. Will Gardner, to whom the book is dedicated, and issued by the Nantucket Historical Trust; the 2013 CreateSpace reprint is a different item. Contents: Aboard the "Abigail"; The Storm; Landfall; Lord of the Manor; Heartbreak; Bankruptcy; Retreat to the Vineyard; Recalled to England; The Wedding; Indian Conference; Delayed Honeymoon; Salisbury Conference; Laying Down His Creed; Philip's Run; The Drowning; Transferred to New York; The Lovelace Charter; Codfish and Feathers; The Northam Manifesto; Love vs. Politics; Homespun Ambassador; The False Deed; King Philip's War; Hiding the Book; Peter in Jail; The Wreck; The Pig Returns; The Yellow Dress; The Oldest House; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.