First Edition of J. Ross Browne's "Etchings of a Whaling Cruise"

"Etchings of a Whaling Cruise, With Notes of a Sojourn on the Island of Zanzibar" by J. Ross Browne. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1846. First edition. Octavo, xiii, 580pp including an Appendix, with 12pp of advertisements. Illustrated with numerous engravings throughout and 13 plates engraved plates. The former bookplate has been removed. Handsomely rebound at a later date to style in brown cloth. Gilt titled at the spine. Light rubbing at the corners and spine edges. Light toning and foxing throughout internal pages. Very fine.

This volume is believed to have had a significant influence upon Herman Melville and his authorship of Moby Dick. Browne's work offers key insight into the state of the whaling industry and whaling in general at a time when there were more than seven hundred whaling vessels serving New England, with nearly twenty thousand men manning those ships. Browne does not shy away from the cruelties sailors had to endure and notes that it was commonplace for a vessel to arrive in port having suffered a mutiny. Browne's observations of the places visited along the way are also especially interesting in relation to life on the whaling vessels.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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