Rare and First Edition Books from Buckingham Books

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Old Times On The Upper Mississippi. The Recollections Of A Steamboat Pilot From 1854 To 1863. GEORGE BYRON MERRICK

Old Times On The Upper Mississippi. The Recollections Of A Steamboat Pilot From 1854 To 1863.

GEORGE BYRON MERRICK

Other works by GEORGE BYRON MERRICK

Publication: The Arthur H Clark Company, 1909, Cleveland

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth, titles stamped in gold on the spine, 323 pp., frontis., teg, prelude, illustrated, maps, portraits, appendices, index, page edges untrimmed, many pages uncut. AHC 186 says "This work was edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, but he is uncredited. James K. Hosmer's evaluation in 1909, that there is "no better account from the inside of steamboating," is still correct (American Historical Review [April, 1909], p.595). The recollections of Merrick are extremely diverse, and include information touching on a variety of subjects, from economic and industrial and ethnological." "As a former steamboat cub engineer, clerk, and pilot, Merrick is very interested in the business of steamboating, so he breaks down the particular job of every officer on board, devoting a chapter to each. In each chapter he adds anecdotes and tales from his river experiences which are many and varied. Not only do you get a strong sense of the Upper Mississippi and its winding course of sandbars and snags, but also the people and work found along it. There are many details on the river towns, some no longer in existence, and the cargoes they provided. There are tales of various emergencies. The book not only describes how boiler explosions, snags, crushing ice and fires destroyed many a steamer, but he also adds examples and lots of technical detail that you don't find in other steamboat books." Small bump to front and rear lower corners and some very light rubbing to the cloth, else a near fine copy without dust jacket, as issued.

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