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CASMIRE G. BONKOSKE : 1905 - 1909 ORIGINAL ARCHIVE OF MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL, AUTOGRAPH LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS HANDWRITTEN AND COMPILED BY A YOUNG MAN WHO RAN AWAY TO THE SEA AND WAS PART OF THE FAMED US ATLANTIC BATTLESHIP FLEET AROUND THE WORLD TOUR

4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. On offer is a modest, original 1905 - 1909 archive of letters, diary, map and photographs handwritten and compiled by one United States Navy sailor aboard the USS Virginia. The very large, very well filled 11 x 7 inch diary of a fun loving, enthusiastic young man who went off to sea to become a man and seasoned seaman as demonstrated in this excellent diary/journal/scrapbook of Casmire G. Bonkoske's around-the world adventures beginning with training on the USRS Franklin and then on to the USS Virginia. The letters, about 20, mostly to his sister and in-laws Mrs Vincent and Francis Turkiewicz, of 732 Hastings Street, Detroit Michigan begin in 1905 in a most charming, story tale fashion the with a letter to his sister apologizing for running away from home and not telling anyone he had joined the Navy. We note a hand drawn map of Havana harbour in one of the letters. [Later his son contributes to the group keeping a record of the USS Virginia stating on the front cover: The Cruise Of The U.S. Atlantic Battleship Fleet Around the World 1907 -1909 and then he further writes: 'The information for this report was taken from a dairy written by my father, who was a sailor on the USS Virginia, one of the battleships in the Atlantic fleet which was sent on a cruise around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt.'] The handwritten journal he refers to is fragile, some torn pages and some small loss, but most very nice. There are also some old newspaper clippings inside the journal. In the middle of the journal is a signed document for USS Virginia in January 1908 where in typical naval fashion the ship had Equator crossing celebrations as seen by the document 'Domain of Neptunus Rex'. The outside cover of this super diary/journal is soiled and frayed. The photos are original also and some have hand written information on the back. One was in Sydney Australia. The boxing match picture was taken on ship Christmas Day 1908. There is a picture of the ship, the USS Virginia. One photo reads: USS Virginia and others at Navy yard Washington June 20, 1908. A couple of the photos say something about mascots. The photos cardboard edging shows soiling and wear but overall G.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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