The Sea, Its stirring story of adventure. peril and heroism, by F Whymper (4 vols)

The Sea, Its stirring story of adventure. peril and heroism (4 volumes) 
F Whymper (4 vols)
First edition

First edition with its original bindings. Hardback with pictorial covers and gilt details/lettering. All copies a little rubbed at the edges but in otherwise good condition. Small bookseller’s sticker on inside back cover. Mottling and discolouration to some pages, especially endpapers. Otherwise in very good condition.

“In November 1867, Whymper published an account of his travels, Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska.  In 1869, he went back to the United States, by way of New York City to San Francisco and worked on the staff of the newspaper Alta California. City directories describe him as an artist and mining engineer, and in 1871 he was a founding member of the San Francisco Art Association. He returned to England at some point, publishing The Heroes of the Arctic and their Adventures and The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril and Heroism, prior to his death in London on 26 November 1901 by what is listed as “failure of the heart, probably due to indigestion, arising from sedentary pursuits”, according to his obituary

Vol 1: Contents: Men of War; Men of Peace; Men of the sea; Perils of a sailor’s life; Round the world on a man of war; Officer’s life on board; Mutiny; History of ships and shipping interests.

Vol. 2:  Contents: History of ships and shipping interests (continued); The lighthouse and its history; The breakwater; The greatest storm in English history; Man the lifeboat; Wrecking as a profession; Hovelling ‘wrecking’; Ships that pass by on the other side; Ship on fire; Early steamship wrecks.

Vol 3: Contents: Pirates and Bucaniers [sic]; Pirates of the 18th century; Paul Jones and de Soto; Arctic expeditions; Cruise of the Pandora; The Alert and Discovery; Voyages of Barents, Hudson, Ross and Parry;  Parry’s expeditions; The magnetic pole; Voyage of the Terror; Franklin’s last voyage; Kane’s expeditions; Hayes expeditions; Halls expeditions; Antarctic regions; Columbus and Vasco da Gama.

Vol 4: Contents: The great Atlantic Ferry; Ocean to ocean connecting line; Pacific Ferry to Japan and China; Woman at sea; Davy Jones’s Locker – its treasures, divers;, submarine cables; The ocean and its living wonders; The harvest of the sea; Monsters of the deep; By the sea shore; Sketches of our coasts; art of swimming; Home in the Thames; Poetry of the sea, the sailor and the ship.

320 pages (each volume)
Black and white engravings throughout
200 mm x 265 mm (8 in x 10.3 in)
1890? (undated), Cassell & Co Ltd, London