A NARRATIVE OF VOYAGES AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES

Cleveland, Richard J.

Published by Published by John Owen, Cambridge, 1842

Two volumes. xvi,249; viii,240pp. Modern half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt. Moderate foxing and staining. Very good. Narrative of Richard Cleveland (1773-1860), an intrepid New England sea captain, navigator, ship owner and merchant who sailed many times around the world and was instrumental in the development of an early triangle fur trade network from coastal California, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska to China and the Hawaiian Islands and thence to Britain and the United States. Pelts of sea otter, seal and other animals purchased by Cleveland were sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe, New England and other portions of the United States. During one of his early voyages to California in his ship, the Lelia Byrd (which he owned in partnership with William Shaler) Cleveland brought the first horses into Hawaii from California as royal gifts to King Kamehameha I. According to Armitage, Cleveland, in conjunction with William Shaler, was also responsible for distributing translations of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution among Creoles in Chile and natives in Mexico in 1821 during a time when the Spanish-American authorities had banned the circulation of the Declaration in an attempt to prevent the spread of revolution. Cleveland's accounts of his voyages and the people and places he encountered is fascinating reading for anyone interested in this important period in American maritime history. "In 1799 [Cleveland] visited the northwest coast, including Alaska, and in 1803 California.[he] was at the Old Sitka site of the first Russian establishment the day following Baranov's making a deal with Katleut, a Sitkan chief, which enabled him to start building an outpost of the Russian- American Company on that spot" - Lada- Mocarski. "An important source much used by Bancroft who characterizes it as: 'A most interesting and well written book.' Cleveland was an adventurer and Fur Trader of the old school. His voyages include the narrative of his four years' expedition to the Northwest Coast, in the Brig, Carolina, 1799-1802, and the voyage of the Lelio Byrd to California in 1803-4. The former is especially valuable for its intimate account of the Indians and their country at this early period and the latter as one of but two known accounts of the Battle of San Diego, in which engagement Cleveland was all but blown out of the water and his ship badly damaged by the Spanish cannon" - Eberstadt. COWAN, p.131. FORBES 1326. GRAFF 764. HILL 313. HOWES C485. LADA-MOCARSKI 115. SABIN 13665. STREETER SALE 2496. WICKERSHAM 6661. EBERSTADT 113:82. Seller Inventory # WRCAM59038

Bibliographic Details

Title: A NARRATIVE OF VOYAGES AND COMMERCIAL ...
Publisher: Published by John Owen, Cambridge
Publication Date: 1842