'The Pirate' and 'The Three Cutters', by Captain Marryat, RN, 1863

By Captain Marryat, RN, and published in London by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman in 1836. First Edition. Two short stories illustrated with 20 [whole page] engravings from drawings by Clarkson Stanfield Esq R.A.. Captain Frederick Marryat (1792 - 1848) was a British Royal Navy officer, novelist and acquaintance of Charles Dickens. As well as known for his widely used system of maritime flag signalling known as Marryat’s Code, his novels, especially those of the sea, earned him considerable renown. ‘The Pirate’ and ‘The Three Cutters’ are two delightful and entertaining short stories, the first about two twin brothers separated at birth, one becoming a pirate and the other a naval officer and the latter, the first ever nautical fiction story based on yachting. Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA (1793 - 1867) was a prominent English marine painter.

8vo - 6” x 9”. 315pp. Full navy calf, all edges gilt and elaborate gilt decoration to both boards. Four raised double bands, gilt decoration and title to spine. Gilt tooled border to marbled pastedowns. Marbled endpapers and page edges. Pencil inscription W Petley to front free endpaper. Silk ribbon fragile but intact. Illustrations with fine paper guards.

Condition: Good+. Foxing to endpapers, all illustration pages and protective tissue as well as occasional pages. Spine strong but separated from pages. Boards strong but corners, edges and spine ends showing shelf wear. 3cm separation of top page edges from spine on frontispiece and first title page. Book square and sound and a handsome copy despite age related wear.

English, 1836