When Ships Were Ships; and Not Tin Pots. Edited by Hilda Renbold Wortman.
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, (1930). First edition. 8vo, 466pp, illustrated; pictorial endpapers; blue cloth stamped in silver and light green. Fine in a very lightly rubbed dust jacket, trace of a small circular label removed from the spine and just a touch of wear at the upper edge. Item #205606
Correct first edition of this maritime autobiography. Barnes, born in 1850 to a seafaring family in Newfoundland, spent most of his life as a sailor in one capacity or another, from the era of wind-powered sailing to modern steamships. A natural raconteur, who kept copious notebooks, his story was put into book form with the aid of his editor and dedicatee who, in addition to using Barnes's written diaries, recorded him on wax cylinders in order to better preserve the quality of his storytelling voice. The more common London edition, published by Cassell in 1931, omits her credit. This edition, further, is illustrated with fine wood engravings by Francis Shields. Exceptionally scarce in dust jacket.
Price: $495.00