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Naval History of the U.S Vol 1,2-Fenimore Cooper 1st Ed
(Item: 598 -NAVAL HIST 1839)
"Naval History of the United States", Vol 1 & 2. J. Fenimore Cooper. ill. Two Maps. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1839. First Edition. 8vo-over 7 3/4"-9 3/4" tall. Hard Cover. Hardback. Good Plus/No Jackets as Issued. Original purple cloth, in two volumes. Gilt title on spine. Exact size: 9 1/16 X 5 3/4 inches. Vol. 1-394 pages; Vol 2-481 pages. There is one map, frontis in each volume; Vol 1, "The Harbour of Tripoli"; Vol. 2, "Battle of Plattsburgh Bay". Both volumes are bumped at corners, head and tail of spine, with sun-fading on spine. Vol 1, in the best condition, has a split starting in the back endpaper. Vol 2 has a 3 1/4 tear at lower right of front spine. Otherwise, both volumes are clean and tight. Although, curiously there is no table of contents for these two volumes, Cooper's account of Naval History is a very sensitive and exacting account of the early U.S. Navy. Cooper, by design, states "as little reference as possible is made to documents, in the body of the work". The author is very mindful of the disparate points of view regarding battles and the infinite details of description of the ships involved. He states that "Two great elements of force enter into the composition of a vessel of war: the ability to annoy, and the ability to endure. The old British system of rating war vessels is here applied to the existing fleet of the United States, circa 1830s. Vol 1 has 19 chapters, Vol 2 and 31 chapters all focused on the makeup of the U.S. Fleet in this early period of U.S. History. First Edition. Scarce. U.S. Naval History.
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