Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr. Houghton Mifflin New Ed 1887
£46 · Offered by eBay
Two Years Before the Mast is Richard Henry Dana Jr.'s celebrated firsthand account of life as a common sailor in the 1830s. Originally published in 1840, this 1887 Houghton, Mifflin New Edition includes subsequent matter added by the author, offering readers both the original narrative and Dana's later reflections. Dana, a Harvard student who shipped out as an ordinary seaman to recover his eyesight, sailed from Boston around Cape Horn to the California coast and back. His vivid, unvarnished account exposed the brutal conditions endured by sailors — flogging, harsh discipline, exhausting watches, and the relentless demands of life at sea — at a time when such realities were largely hidden from the public. Key themes and highlights include: Life aboard a merchant sailing vessel in the age of sail Vivid descriptions of California before American statehood, including hide trading at ports such as Santa Barbara and San Diego Advocacy for sailors' rights and reform of maritime labor conditions Rounding Cape Horn in brutal winter weather Dana's return voyage and reunion with civilization after two years at sea The book stands as a landmark of American maritime literature and a foundational document of labor reform, influencing writers including Herman Melville. This New Edition, printed at the Riverside Press in Cambridge, includes the author's own account of subsequent events and the fates of those he sailed with.
- Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin and Company
- Year: 1887
- Binding: Hardcover
- Condition: Good
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