This classic of American literature contains the best account of the early hide trade of California
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST
A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF LIFE AT SEA
BY
Richard Henry Dana
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
EDWARD A. WILSON
THE LAKESIDE PRESS
CHICAGO
1930
A splendid edition of this classic, designed and illustrated by Edward A. Wilson, and limited to 1,000 copies.
DESCRIPTION OF BOOK:
This is a pristine copy of this timeless classic. It has a blue cloth cover with a gilt design of a square-rigger on the front, with a cream cloth spine, in a slip case with a printed label. With 36 color decorations or plates by Edward A. Wilson.
Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930. Hardcover, in slipcover. One of 1000 copies.
These are some comments I found in the book descriptions I researched:
Zamorano Eighty 26: "If not the most widely read book on California,
certainly 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 make this volume an
excellent and very readable record of his experiences. It has gone through many
editions and has been translated into several foreign languages. In 1869 the
author bought out an edition with added material including an account of a
second visit to California twenty-four years after his first."
Herd 642: "The book contains much material on the hide and tallow industry of
California, which was the reason for the cattle industry of that state in its
early years."
Six Score 28: "This classic of American literature contains the best account of
the early hide trade of California. Cattle were plentiful in California in this
period, but there was no market for the surplus of beef. Hence, the industry
revolved around the hide and tallow trade." [Sierra Madre, CA, U.S.A.]
There are 36 color decorations or plates.
The book is 7 1/2“ wide x 9 3/4“ high.
DESCRIPTION OF CONDITION:
PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE PHOTOS, OR HAVE ANY QUESTIONS!!
I AM AVAILABLE ALMOST EVERY WEEKDAY AND CHECK MY EMAIL REGULARLY.
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ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY:
Richard Henry Dana
(1815-1882)Richard Henry Dana, American writer and lawyer, was born in Cambridge,
Massachusetts on August 1, 1815. He left his studies at Harvard in 1834 in the
hope that a sea voyage would aid his failing eyesight. He shipped out of Boston
as a common seaman on board the brig Pilgrim bound for the Pacific, and returned
to Massachusetts two years later. Completing his education, Dana became a leader
of the American bar, an expert on maritime law, and a life-long advocate of the
rights of the merchant seamen he had come to know on the Pilgrim and other
vessels.
Dana was an antislavery activist, and in 1848 he helped found the Free-Soil
Party. He was a member of the Massachusetts legislature from 1867 to 1868.
Two Years Before the Mast is based on the diary Dana kept while at sea.
First published in 1841, it is one of America's most famous accounts of life at
sea. It contains a rare and detailed account of life on the California coast a
decade before the Gold Rush revolutionized the region's culture and society.
Dana chronicles stops at the ports of Monterey, San Pedro, San Diego, Santa
Barbara, and Santa Clara. He describes the lives of sailors in the ports and
their work of hide-curing on the beaches, and he gives close attention to the
daily life of the peoples of California: Hispanic, Native American, and
European.
Dana's writing provides a glimpse into San Diego history, describing Old Town
as it was in 1835 and the "hide trade" (curing and trimming cattle hides for
export) on Point Loma's La Playa. In 1841 Dana wrote a handbook, The Seaman's
Friend, which includes a section on maritime law, a field in which he became an
authority. He was an opponent of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
Dana died on January 6, 1882 in Rome.
Edward A. (Arthur) Wilson, 84, well-known book illustrator and print maker,
died October 2, at Dobbs Ferry (N.Y.) Hospital after long illness.
The following, submitted September 2005, is from Thomas MacLellan Hall, the
grandson of Kenneth F. MacLellan, who was a friend of Edward Arthur Wilson.
Thomas Hall wrote: "My grandfather went into the packaged food business,
eventually forming United Biscuit Company in Chicago, the precursor to Keebler.
Whatever the origin of their friendship, my grandfather acquired a spectacular
pen and ink drawing Mr. Wilson did of a Japanese coronation. He eventually gave
that drawing to my uncle, who later gave it to me. We now have it proudly
displayed in our dining room. A letter from my grandfather is taped to the back
of the frame and it includes the photostats transcribed below."
The first photostat is from the Provincetown Advocate, Thursday, October
8, 1970
"Edward A. Wilson"
Edward A. (Arthur) Wilson, 84, well-known book illustrator and print maker, died
October 2, at Dobbs Ferry (N.Y.) Hospital after long illness.
Since 1947, and until recently, Mr. Wilson has lived in Truro.
Mr. Wilson, a collection of whose illustrations for books and advertising (The
Book of Edward A. Wilson: A Survey of His Work) was published in 1948 by The
Heritage Press (associated with The Limited Editions Club) was given the Society
of Illustrators Hall of Fame Medal in 1962, being among the half dozen or so
recipients of this medal. He was made an Associate member of the National
Academy in 1948 and his book illustrations were featured in Life magazine
(April 23) in 1945. Life called him "of the first rank among modern U.S.
book illustrators.
Born on March 4, 1886 in Glasgow, Scotland, Mr. Wilson came to the U.S. in 1893.
He studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and with the father of modern
blockwork illustration, Howard Pyle. Mr. Wilson's first important book
illustrations were for a book of sea chanteys, Iron Men and Wooden Ships,
published in 1924 by Doubleday, and Full And By (1925), a collection of
drinking songs with prefaces byDon Marquis and Christopher Morley, for the same
publisher.
These were followed by some seventy (70) other books, mainly classics,
particularly about the sea, such as Two Years Before The Mast, a limited
edition (Lakeside Press, 1930) and Ranging The Maine Coast (W.W. Norton,
1939).
Besides book illustration, Mr. Wilson did illustrations for national magazines
and many national advertising campaigns. He also did lithographic prints which
are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library and the
Library of Congress.