Original 1887 Wreck Of The Rainier: A Saior's Narrative Book Hardcover 1st Ed.

Description

The Ozark Antiquarian
The Ozark Antiquarian
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Wreck of the Rainier: A Sailor's Narrative
Original 1st Edition Hardcover
Title page says: Wreck of the Rainier / A Sailor's Narrative / By O. J. R. with preface by Robert Rexdale / Portland, Me / W. H. Stevens & Company / Publishers. Copyrighted 1887 / Printed by B. Thurston & Co., Portland, Maine. 148 pages. 1st edition or 1st hardcover edition - unclear if paperback edition came out first, or this edition was "true first". FEP is inscribed by the author: "Complements of Capt. O. J. Humphrey Port Clarence July 4, 1888" and stamped next to it the stamp of the ill fated "S. S. Jeanie.". This book ships in a BOX!
The SS Jeanie was a steamer of the Alaska Coast Company, last rented out to W F Swan Navigation Co, Seattle, when, December 19, 1913, at Point Clark, Calvert Island, British Columbia, Canada, it ran aground and was abandoned. There's some nifty pictures and info on it online.
The Rainier left Delaware Bay on August 12, 1883 bound for Kobe, Japan. January 2, 1884, the ship wrecked on the southwestern reef of Ujae Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Book is an account written by the First Mate Omar Humphrey and Second Mate Will Jackson of rescue by and life among the Marshallese. There is an annual festival held by the Marshallese on Ujae Atoll in memory of the wreck of the Rainier; many (now) historical people, including women and people of color, are mentioned in the book. The crew built a schooner and sailed away; areas include the Marshall Islands, Ujae Atoll, Jaluit Atoll, Alinglaplap Atoll, and Norfolk Island.
Omar James Humphrey was born June 25, 1856 in Yarmouth (ME) to Captain James Joseph and Sarah Humphrey. He went to sea at an early age and in 1883 was mate in the Bath ship Oracle, commanded by Captain Samuel H. Morrison, when that vessel was lost. Later that year he married Capt. Morrison’s daughter Emma and again went mate with Capt. Morrison, this time in the Sewall ship Rainier. This vessel was also wrecked, in the South Pacific in 1884. Morrison became the only Bath shipmaster to lose four vessels. Humphrey went on to become a master mariner himself, but soon left sail and commanded steamers, mostly on the West Coast, and by 1910 was in Seattle, working on transportation and construction in the Northwest and Alaska. He died in Cloverdale, California, on April 25, 1942.
Year Printed
1887
Features
1st Edition
Original Hardcover
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Due to injury, and biopsy need, I am selling everything I own, as well as things I come across - estate sales & major retail closeouts. I have an extensive history as a collector of art, scientific items, computers, and bookselling.
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