Fine Books & Manuscripts

Dana, Richard Henry. Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1840. First edition, second printing. Original tan muslin stamped in black. All points for second printing present according to BAL (dot over the “i” in the word “in” on copyright page missing, broken running head on page 9, and in the second state of BAL’s “B” binding with the Harper’s Family Library list on the rear board ending at number 121.). 16mo. Outer hinges splitting; neatly repaired with adhesive, extremities rubbed corners bumped, boards soiled and stained, slight lean, contents dampstained to outer margins. BAL 4434. "If not the most widely read book on California, certainly this ranks extremely high on such a list. The author sailed up and down the California coast trading for hides from January, 1835 until May, 1836. He possessed not only extraordinarily keen powers of observation but a fine facility for expressing his ideas in writing, which makes this volume an excellent and very readable record of his experiences" (Zamorano 80, 26).