|
1 |
McGinnis, Paul Lost Eden
New York Robert M. Mcbride & Co. (c.1947) First Edition Hardcover Very Good in Good dj
(price-clipped) [moderately shelfworn but still solid book, top corners bumped, "Property of Vanguard Films, Inc." stamped on ffep; jacket heavily edgeworn, some paper loss at top corners of front panel, top of spine internally repaired with brown tape, small ragged tear at base of spine, rubbing and general wear]. Hard-to-find historical novel set in the South Seas during the era of exploration. "Aboard the Resolution, outward bound from Plymouth in 1776, was a venturesome young artist, Midshipman John Westermark, who was commissioned to sketch the exotic plants and unknown animals that were expected to be discovered on that epic voyage. John did not dream that this, Captain James Cook's third voyage into the Pacific, was to last three years and that it was destined to add one of the great chapters to the brilliant history of English exploration and conquest." Among the novel's characters is young Lieutenant William Bligh, appointed (at age 22) sailing master by Cook just prior to this voyage. "After having suffered under the iron discipline of the flint-hearted Lieutenant Bligh, and the bullying of young, supercilious Lord Wadleigh, his shipboard superior and rival for Lorna's attention [oh, yes, he's left a girl behind], John schemed to desert the expedition." He finally succeeds in escaping when they reach the Sandwich Islands (later to be known as Hawaii), where he falls in love with a daughter of a native high priest. According to the jacket blurb, the author "has gone to all available 18th century histories and journals in order to make his novel as accurate as possible, a process that started with a year of study in Hawaii and required five additional years to complete the volume." (Vanguard Films Inc., whose property stamp appears on the ffep, was David O. Selznick's company; this suggests that the book might have been considered for movie adaptation at some point.)
Price:
100.00 USD
|
