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Title: The Mariner’s Chronicle
Full title:
The Mariner’s Chronicle: Containing Narratives of the Most Remarkable Disasters at Sea… Shipwrecks, Storms, Fires, and Famines… Also Naval Engagements, Piratical Adventures, Incidents of Discovery, and Other Extraordinary and Interesting Occurrences.
Publisher: George W. Gorton
Place: New Haven
Date: 1834
Printer: Durrie & Peck (stereotyped by A. Chandler)
This is a classic 19th-century maritime disaster / sea adventure compilation, very popular with:
• maritime collectors
• shipwreck & naval history collectors
• early Americana readers
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✍️ Inscription
The handwritten inscription reads:
“E. S. Welles
Library No. 40”
This is a period ownership inscription, likely:
• a private circulating or institutional library
• or an early personal library cataloging system
📌 Key point
This is NOT a later modern signature — it’s period-correct and adds character, though not celebrity provenance.
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📐 Condition Assessment
Overall: Acceptable / Good for age (1834)
Highlights:
• Original leather binding
• Spine intact (nice survival for 1830s)
• Text block solid and complete
• Moderate foxing & age toning
• Wear to leather boards and edges
• Some staining to endpapers (normal, shown clearly)
This is honest, collectible condition, not a rebinding or facsimile.
