Description
Ruth Sexton Sargent, Published 1992. Paperback, 190 pp.; 22 cm; reprint of the 1969 Funk and Wagnalls edition; pen-and-ink frontispiece of Matinicus Rock light; cover illustration by Mary Beth Owens.
Rare, out-of-print & unusual books · Since 1997
110
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Condition & notes
In Very Good condition. Blue and white illustrated wraps with light bumping and creasing to edges and corners, mild shelf and edge wear, and some sticker residue at foot of front cover near spine; spine mildly toned. Binding tight. Signed by Ruth Sargent in black ink on half-title. Mild toning to edges of text block, with light spotting along fore edge; pages otherwise unmarked. [From back cover] ABBIE BURGESS was only fourteen when she first stepped upon Matinicus Rock, off the coast of Maine. But she was no ordinary girl, as her life there proved. When her father was forced to sail to the mainland for desperately needed supplies, she tended the two light towers alone, as well as her family. During those harrowing weeks she battled record storms and starvation. Accounts of her bravery made her a legend among New England seafarers. Therefore, these authors felt such a heroine richly deserved a book of her own. Chapters from this volume have appeared recently in numerous textbooks. The epilogue covers her later years as assistant keeper at Whitehead Light Station and the miniature lighthouse placed on her grave by Edward Rowe Snow in 1945. Contents: Author's Note; Samuel Burgess Is Appointed Keeper, 1853; Preparations for Departure; Sailing to Matinicus Rock; Arrival at the Lighthouse; First Day on the Rock; A Week Passes; Abbie Helps Tend the Lamps; Spring Arrives; Benjy Leaves; Abbie and Her Hens; The Lighthouse Logs; A Christmas Guest; A Visit with Prissy; Winter of the Tempests; The Great Storm; Benjy Comes Home; Abbie Keeps the Lights Aglow; A New Keeper Is Appointed; Abbie Falls in Love; Epilogue.