THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SEAMAN

London: Richard Bentley, 1861. xvii,[1],517pp. Small octavo. Original dark blue cloth, spine decorated in gilt. Portrait and four charts (3 folding). Cloth a bit rubbed and sunned, a couple signatures starting, but a good copy. First single volume edition, conjoining the texts of the 1860 first edition and the text of the 1861 second volume. The Earl's extensive memoirs of his active career in the Royal Naval, as a mercenary, and in politics, the former having served as a model for characters in the fiction of Marryat, C. S. Forester, Patrick O'Brian, G. A Henty and Bernard Cornwell. (Inventory #: WRCLIT83476)