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Phelps, William Dane; Busch, Briton Cooper (Editor and Introduction) : Fremont's Private Navy: The 1846 Journal of Captain William Dane Phelps

The Arthur H. Clark Company, Glendale, CA, 1987

Limited edition. No. 214 of 500 copies printed. Signed by the editor in black ink under the front colophon: "Briton C. Busch." Original publisher's green cloth binding with white dust wrapper in mylar. Gilt lettering on the front cover and spine of the book. 6 1/4" x 9 1/2." Seventy-nine pages, complete. Index in the back. Front colophon: "Fremont's Private Navy has been produced in an edition of 500 copies each signed by the editor of which this is number 214." Back colophon: "Typography: Linotype Granjon and handset Deepdene, Presswork: Letterpress, on a V-36 Miehle Vertical, both of the above completed by the Sagebrush Press, Morongo Valley, Calif.; Bindery: SEBCO, Inc., Monterey Park, Calif.; Produced under the Direction of: Robert A. Clark; Paper: 80# Mohawk Superfine; Copies Printed: 500." Dust wrapper and pages and covers of the book are very clean and intact. Binding is tight. Dust wrapper is browned. A speck has discolored a few small portions on the front flap of the dust wrapper and the front free endpaper. No remainder marks. A Fine book in a Fine dust wrapper. 1840 marked the first time United States sea captain William Dane Phelps (1802-1875) visited California. He stayed there until 1842 but returned in 1845. This reprinted journal provides insight into Phelps's lesser-known ventures along the California coast in the year 1846. Excerpt from the Introduction: "Following his arrival at San Diego in January 1846, Phelps found the next twelve months to be full of incident until, in December, the journal ends, apparently sent home with the Sterling. Although Phelps throughout remained primarily concerned with his maritime and mercantile responsibilities, he was a participant in two events of historical importance. The first, on 1 July, was the spiking of the Mexican guns at Fort Point (at the southern end of the modern Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco). The journal gives the bare details; Phelps's memoirs, written a quarter-century later, add further color. Neither account mentions the fact that Phelps later billed the United States government for $10,000 to compensate for his assistance to Fremont and his men in this venture. (In the end Phelps was awarded $50 by a claims court for his trouble, after Major Archibald Gillespie testified that at the time there had been no actual physical danger from any local opposition.) A more important crisis, which Phelps witnessed but in which he played little active role, was the reconquest of the Los Angeles area by Commodore Robert F. ('Fighting Bob') Stockton, who had replaced Sloat in mid-July 1846.". Book. Book Condition: Fine. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: Fine

1st Edition
Signed by the Editor

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