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JOSEPH A. CAMERATA : 1934 PRE WORLD WAR II ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED AND HAND DRAWN NAVAL TRAINING COURSE NOTEBOOK KEPT BY A TALENTED AND ASTUTE STUDENT AT THE U.S. NAVY ELECTRICAL SCHOOL

Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. On offer is a fascinating and one-of-a-kind document from the history of the United States Navy. It is an exceptionally curious and well-illustrated student’s workbook for a 6 month (24 week) course at the U.S. Navy Electrical School in Hampton Roads, Virginia, kept by Fireman Second Class Joseph Camerata. The book contains approximately 230 pages of detailed and handwritten class notes, drawings, graphs, schematics, and charts on a huge host of topics dealing with electricity and electrical engineering. The book is broken up into sections by week. Topics include sections on electrical theory such as magnetism, resistance, currents, and circuits, as well as sections on motors, storage batteries, telephony, gyro compasses, generators, searchlights, naval and ship organization, and much more. However, what makes this book so special and wildly unique, are the nearly 150 meticulously drawn illustrations, schematics, charts, and diagrams, many (if not most) in full vibrant color. Each weekly lesson is introduced with illustrations in different styles, but almost always in color. Several are simple two color blocks, the rest a colorful blend of rainbow and psychedelia. There are also many, many simple but elegant drawings of electrical schematics and diagrams, done in a very skilled and steady hand. The section on magnetism is probably the best example of this, packing 16 different expertly drawn illustrations and diagrams of various colors and hues, in the space of 5 pages. It’s easy to see that Camerata is a very talented young man. He also included drawings (in a cartoon style) completely unrelated to the class at hand, such as Bonzo the Dog, Jiggs (from the comic strip ‘Bringing Up Father’), a scene of a man coming home to his sleeping wife, a sailor delivering a covered food casserole, and a number of others, all in full color. These illustrations and diagrams elevate what would ordinarily be an interesting book on extensive electrical training in the Navy, into an absolutely one-of-a-kind document. After the course is finished, there is a “Navy Training Course Certificate” pasted onto one of the pages, certified that Joseph Camerata has passed the training. It is certified by Lieutenant C. L. Waters and Commander C. G. West. The last two pages of the book include two different cut outs pasted onto the pages. One is the illustrated story of the Buddha and the other is news article of “Vagabond Specialists.” The back of the front cover includes a list of Camerata’s electrical instructors: “Mr. Erwin - Lt. Comdr. Of Electric. School.; Mr. G. Trauth - Asst. Officer in charge.; Mr. Myrick - 1st term; Mr. Alshure - 2nd term; Mr. Cameron - 3rd term; Mr. Reiss- 4th term; Mr. Ranhovich - 5th, 6th term.” The book is 300 pages in length, in which there is writing in 230 or so pages. Camerata’s handwriting is remarkably easy to read and the writing is legible throughout the book. There is very little evidence of wear or aging on the pages on the inside. The cover is half leather bound and shows many little holes and tears on both the front and back cover. Structurally, the book is still in excellent shape. (Background: Upon graduation, Camerata was assigned to the USS Kanawha, a replenishment oiler that served the West Coast, Canal Zone, Caribbean, and Hawaii. After receiving an honorable discharge at San Diego in 1936, he hiked to Seward, Alaska where he joined the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union and served the crew, passengers and the Captain's table on various vessels until 1942. After a short stint as a Second Diesel Engineer, Camerata enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as the First Mate and Navigator on the ‘Edmond J. Moram’, a military ocean tug. After leaving the service in 1946, he settled on a farm in Fredonia, New York, where he spent many years tending his Concord grape vineyard. While tending to the grapes he also worked at Allegheny Steel Corporation in Dunkirk for 20 years. He was born on April 9, 1912 and died on March 17, 2011.). Manuscript. Book Condition: Very Good

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