Peter Harrington US

True first edition of "the greatest cruising story ever written," one of just 700 mimeographed copies issued by subscription. This a skilfully and sensitively restored copy, retaining the wraps and original fishing line sewing, of what is an exceptionally fragile production.

A recently-retired insurance man, Plummer (1865-1928) set out on the cruise with his son Henry M. Plummer Jr. (1892-1963), and Scotty, the ship's cat, on a 30-year-old 24-foot Cape Cod catboat, "as a rest for a set of frazzled nerves and tired eyes." Plummer may have been the first man to sail a small boat down the inside passage from Massachusetts to Miami, Florida and back, a review of a recent re-issue remarks: "The route they followed was what would become the inland waterway. As a piece of history alone the story, especially with photographs, is a boggle" (Carol Standish in review of the third edition in Points East; the Boating Magazine for Coastal New England).

Virtually unobtainable, as originally bound, sewn with fishing-line in card wraps, it is a fragile book; a reader's and re-reader's book; and a boat library book, any one of which alone would militate effectively against its survival and therefore keenly sought-after and fiercely held on to, to the extent that the editor of Yachting magazine described borrowing a copy as "about as simple as borrowing a man's favourite wife". This copy professionally restored in such a way as to retain much of its original charm. A fascinating account of cruising in a time gone by, Plummer was a practical sailor and has much pithy, hard-earned advice, but "most of all, the charm of the book lies in the character of its author as expressed in his sly and quirky sense of humour, through his detailed observations and informed opinions and in his elegant (more or less) solutions to the problems inherent in the adventure. And like many Victorians, the man could write as well as he could think". This copy with the ownership inscription of Julia S. Yale to the first blank.

The Boy, Me and the Cat

MAY, F. H.
Yachting in Hongkong.
A Retrospect, with some Hints on small Yacht Racing.

Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, Limited, 1905

First and sole edition, rare; presentation copy from the author, inscribed on a preliminary blank, "G. H. U. Noel from the Author, 1905". An excellent provenance: Admiral Sir Gerard Uctred Noel (1845-1918) was Commander-in-Chief, China Station, 1904-06, and had a long and distinguished career. He had joined the service as a cadet in 1858, was a sub-lieutenant on the China Station in 1862, and commanded a naval brigade in the capture of Kumasi during the Second Anglo-Ashanti War (1873-74). Promoted commander, he won the RUSI gold medal for his work on naval tactics (1875), and was executive officer on the royal yacht HMY Victoria and Albert in 1878. Noel ended his career as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore (1907) and as Admiral of the Fleet (1908). The author, Sir Francis Henry May (1860-1922), was later governor of Hong Kong (1912-1918).

This is an excellent history of yachting in Hong Kong which, the author admits in his preface, "owing to the lack of records I have had some considerable difficulty in compiling". It begins in 1849 and covers both the Hong Kong Corinthian Sailing Club and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. There are chapters on "Some Hints for Beginners in Small Yacht Racing" and "Cruising and Cruiser Races". The six appendices include "Use of Blue Ensign", a list of members in 1869, winners of various challenge cups, list of yachts at the Hong Kong club in 1905, and tide charts and notes. An online search of institutional libraries cites 5 locations only (British Library, Scotland, National Maritime Museum, Smithsonian, Peabody Essex).