Abraham

Reminiscences of a Naval Officer during the Late War.

1851Best.-Nr. 193281London: Henry Colburn 1851. Navy life so full of incident as to suggest Marryat Forester or O'Brian First edition scarce this attractive copy in its smart original navy-blue cloth binding is apparently the only one currently on the market. Although "the opening pages are touched by the verbosity of the early Victorians read on. Quickly the veneer is torn away by the vigour of his memories springing from the past like boarders with cutlass pistol and boarding-pike" Pocock p. vii. Born in Lismore County Waterford Crawford 1785-1869 entered the navy in 1800 as a first class volunteer on board HMS Diamond "in which he assisted in the capture of many of the enemy's ships armed and otherwise" O'Byrne. He transferred to the Immortalité and Clyde frigates under Admiral Owen as a midshipman "and appears to have been almost daily in action from June 1802 until Aug. 1806 with detachments of the Boulogne flotilla". With Duckworth on the Royal George at the forcing of the Dardanelles in 1807 Crawford was present at the destruction of a Turkish squadron off Point Pesquies. Promoted lieutenant in the Sultan he was involved in frequent cutting out operations in the Gulf of Genoa taking part in the pursuit of the French ships of the line Robuste and Lion in 1809. In 1810-11 he served under Admiral Carew in the blockade of Toulon and support of the Catalonian insurgents on the coast being present at the siege of Tarragona. Promoted commander in 1815 he was given command of the Grasshopper on the West India Station where he served until invalided home in 1829. Tom Pocock praises the quality of Crawford's descriptions of naval actions the sea and his portraits of fellow officers as in the postprandial face of one lieutenant assuming "the hue of an unripe mulberry". Crawford also talks of Congreve rockets Fulton's torpedoes and the transformation of the quarterdeck of a frigate into a dancefloor for an onboard ball. 2 vols octavo. Tissue-guarded lithographic portrait frontispieces of admirals Sir Edward Owen and Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew by R. J. Hamerton printed by Metchin; publisher's 24-page catalogue at end of vol. II. Original navy-blue cloth gilt-lettered spines with decoration in blind covers with blind decorative panels pale yellow coated endpapers bearing publisher's advertisements. Spines cocked a few marks to covers internally cracked at gutter in one or two places but firm pale brown stain across vol. II pp. 28-9: very good. William O'Byrne A Naval Biographical Dictionary 1990; Tom Pocock intro to the Chatham Publishing edition of 1999. hardcover

Peter Harrington · Vereinigtes Königreich1.250,00 £≈ 1.492,93 €

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