Log of the Centurion. Based on the original papers of Captain Philip Saumarez on board HMS Centurion, Lord Anson's flagship during his circumnavigation 1740-44

Heaps, Leo

ISBN 10: 024610581X / ISBN 13: 9780246105813

Published by Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, London, 1973

About this Item

First edition, first impression. Edge wear and some chipping to top and bottom of jacket and spine. corners and folds scuffed, spine lightly browned, some slight dust soiling, jacket now in protective film wrapper. Not price clipped (£3.75), no inscriptions, internally clean tight and square, overall in vg ++ condition. 264pp. Maps of Anson's voyage on endpapers, frontispiece portrait of Saumarez, lavishly illustrated in colour and b&w. The object of Anson's epic voyage was to capture the Spanish Acapulco galleon and harrass the Spaniards to the best of their power. The treasure captured during the four year voyage amounted to some fifty million in today's money and was sufficient to set all the participants up for life and compensate them for the hardships endured, except ironically Phillip Saumarez (1710-47) himself, who was killed in an engagement off Cape Finisterre. The manuscript of Saumarez's diary was lost for many years and only discovered in a cardboard box in his family's manor on Guernsey in the Channel Isles in the1960's. Indispensable to all Patrick O'Brian fans.

Seller Inventory # 001180

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Log of the Centurion. Based on the original papers of Captain Philip Saumarez on board HMS Centurion, Lord Anson's flagship during his circumnavigation 1740-44
• Publisher: Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, London
• Publication Date: 1973
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 024610581X
• ISBN 13: 9780246105813
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Fascinated by the expeditions of Sir Francis Drake and Captain James Cook?

Then you’ll love this account of the Centurion’s circumnavigation of the globe, one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of maritime exploration and naval warfare.

In 1740, George Anson and his fleet set off to harass Spanish commerce in the Pacific and attack towns on the coasts of Chile and Peru.

Four years later, over half the men had died and of the seven ships which left Portsmouth only the Centurion had completed its objective of attacking Spanish possessions around the globe.

Although this journey came at the cost of numerous lives and ships, the Centurion had succeeded in capturing the biggest prize of all time, the Acapulco galleon.

Captain Philip Saumarez kept a daily record of the voyage around the world in his four log books, which along with a wealth of letters and documents give brilliant insight into life aboard these ships.

Leo Heaps has compiled and edited these manuscripts to provide a complete chronicle of the expedition which saw men decimated by scurvy, mutinies among marooned sailors, ships battered by mountainous waves around Cape Horn and eventual glory in the capture of the gold-laden Nuestra Señora de la Covadonga.

Log of the Centurion is a unique account of a daring maritime expedition across the high seas of the globe in the mid-eighteenth century.

“It is a tribute to her officers that she not only captured the greatest prize at sea, but that she returned at all.” Christopher Lloyd, former Professor of History at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich

“It is an absorbing tale … The merit of this book lies in its realistic evocation of the mid-18th century. We have fine descriptions of China and the delicate negotiations conducted with the Manchus for supplies and repairs. Patagonia, Juan Fernandez (Crusoe’s island), Madeira, and other exotic places are vividly described.” Regis A. Courtemanche, History: Reviews of New Books