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First Edition (SD, Houghton Mifflin= SD prior to 1953. From the front of the jacket: 'On the surface, "The Cruise of the Nona" is a breezy record of an adventurous cruise; underneath the surface, it is one of the wisest and most pregnant studies of modern life in many phases, particularly in its War and post-War phases, that have seen the light in many years.' The author Frederic Abildgaard Fenger may have agreed. His seaworthy bookplate adorns the inside front cover. It's in very good condition and has a pertinent quote: "And I was going to sea myself; to sea in a schooner to seek for buried treasures, RLS ". Here is why Mr. Fenger owned this book: 'In 1917 Fredric wrote his first book "Alone in the Caribbean" published by the George H. Doran Company. Alone in the Caribbean is a classic in boating history, telling the story of Fenger's 800-mile cruise through the Caribbean aboard the Yakaboo (translated from the Ellice islanders' word for "goodbye," uttered when something is dropped overboard a sailing vessel). In 1911, Fenger built the world's only sailing canoe, and sailed it from Grenada throughout the Caribbean islands, finishing his trip in the Virgin Islands. Along the way he spent time in St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Statia, and Saba, where the narrative ends. Fenger's Yakaboo was a covered canoe with a drop keel that can be slid fore and aft to help maintain a straight course, necessary because the boat does not have a rudder and instead steering relies entirely on the set of the sails and the position of the keel. Fenger was also the author of the "Golden Parrot" and the "Cruise of the Diablesse", which relates the story of his 18-month expedition to the Bahamas, and throughout the West Indies, navigating a 52 foot schooner named "Diablesse". So good provenance on this book. You can see the blue covers of The Cruise of the Nona in the photos. They are quite clean with just a few not conspicuous spots. The edges are in very solid shape, just a tiny bit of smooth rubbing on the rear bottom one. The corners have only a tiny bit of mild rubbing. There's a thin crease above the word 'The' on the spine. There's the usual crinkling at the spine ends. The gilt lettering on both the front and the spine is quite bright. The page edges are clean. The middle page edge is deckled or rough-cut. They did a very good job. The book is solidly bound from cover to cover. I'm not finding any binding issues. The covers are tightly bound. The pages appear to be very clean. I'm scrolling through them without finding any conspicuous soiling (there's a speck of a spot just off the top edge of the front inside cover). I'm also not finding any creasing, only a very light, thin half-line at the top corner of a few consecutive pages, looks like something that aspired to be a crease but couldn't quite work up the energy. There are no markings in the book. Mr. Fenger's small bookplate is the only attachment. And no one has written their name or anything else anywhere. This is the only dust jacket to have survived the cruise. Probably had its own life jacket. Ouch. 1925 has gotten to be a long time ago, that may be why my search for a surviving dust jacket on the first American edition or on any printing of the American edition turned up not a one. And the jacket is not in terrible shape. There is that thin loss off the top edge of the spine and much of the front and rear cover, but not coming anywhere close to the lettering. There's also a sliver of loss at the bottom edge of the spine and just adjacent there is a loss on the front. There's also one tear off both the front top and bottom edge. The spine is clearly toned. There's a small tear that is successfully hiding itself at the juncture between the rear cover and spine, and finally a little loss at the rear bottom edge. The flaps look quite good. The jacket is NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all, and is protected by a fitted cover. Seller Inventory # 004111
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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Cruise of the Nona: The Story of a ...
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, Boston
Publication Date: 1925
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good Plus
Dust Jacket Condition: Good
Edition: 1st Edition
