SLOCUM, Joshua.
Voyage of the Liberdade.
Boston: Press of Robinson & Stephenson , 1890.
$5,500.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-152088
+$450
"But where, after all, would be the poetry of the sea were there no wild waves?": First edition of Joshua Slocum's Voyage of the Liberdade; Inscribed by Him to Newspaper Manager Don Carlos Seitz
First edition of Slocum's account of his fifty-five days at sea with his wife and sons aboard the 35-foot junk-rig The Liberdade. Small octavo, original cloth with gilt title to the front panel, patterned endpapers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Mr. Don C Seitz Brooklyn Eagle with compliments of the author, Joshua Slocum." The recipient, Don Carlos Seitz, was a newspaper manager best known for his long tenure as business manager of Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, a position he held from 1898 to 1923 during the paper's most prosperous era. Born in Portage, Ohio, he began his career on the Brooklyn Eagle before joining the World, rising through its advertising department to become business manager, and he was also a prolific author whose works included a notable biography of Pulitzer as well as books on Horace Greeley, pirates, and famous American duels. In very good condition with repairs to pages 15-18. Exceptionally rare signed and inscribed.
After being stranded in Southern Brazil with his second wife and two eldest sons following the wreck of the unlucky Aquidneck, Slocum began work on a new boat that could sail them home. He used local materials, salvaged materials from the Aquidneck and worked with local workers. The boat was launched on May 13, 1888, the very day slavery was abolished in Brazil, and therefore the ship was given the Portuguese name Liberdade. It was an unusual 35-foot (11 m) junk-rigged design which he described as "half Cape Ann dory and half Japanese sampan". He and his family began their voyage back to the United States, his son Victor (15) being the mate. After fifty-five days at sea and 5510 miles, the Slocums reached Cape Roman, South Carolina and continued inland to Washington D.C. for winter and finally reaching Boston via New York in 1889. This was the last time Henrietta sailed with the family. In 1890, Slocum published the accounts of these adventures in Voyage of the Liberdade.
Voyage of the Liberdade.
$5,500.00
In Stock
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