The Sea Book: A Nautical Repository of Perils and Pleasures, Adventures, Joys and Sufferings on the Briny Deep, Being a Summary of the Life and Doings of the Sailor, Both Ashore and Afloat

Author, date and publisher unknown, probably 1840s, original red cloth, illustrated in gilt on front cover with ship in full sail, done in gilt, covers detached, spine missing, endpapers missing, extra illustrated title page loose but present, 19 steel engravings present (of 20 - frontispiece is missing), several by J. M. W. Turner, text generally clean. Some of the illustrations are partly dampstained at an edge, A scarce and puzzling nautical item, in need of rebinding, an anthology probably directed at teenage boys. I am dating it to the mid-to-late 1840s because it contains several extracts from Dana's 'Two Years Before the Mast', which appeared in 1842. The preface refers to it as 'that highly interesting and popular little volume'. The reference to 'The Proprietor' may indicate a young persons' periodical, but if so, the only clue is that the printer was W. J. Sears, of Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row. It was priced at one guinea, expensive enough for the time. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. …