Sea Voyage to California in 19th Century , Life at Sea Sailors Mexican Rancho For Sale

Two Years Before The Mast
And Twenty Years After
By R. H. Dana Jr.
he Harvard Classics
Vol. 23
Published By P. F. Collier & Son
New York
1937
Hardcover binding.
Binding decoration Veritas ( Latin for \" truth \")
Decorated Endpapers.5.5\" x 8.25\" , 405 pages.------Very Good Condition
Just the slightest wear to the binding.
( see the photos )
The hinges are tight.
No markings.
No writing.
The pages are in very good condition.----------Two Years Before The Mast ( A Personal Narrative of Life At Sea ) by Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1815-1882).Two Years Before the Mast is Dana\'s 1840 memoir, detailing his 1834-1836 voyage as a common sailor from Boston to California and back around Cape Horn.
A classic American narrative that vividly describes the harsh realities of 19th-century maritime life and the brutal conditions for sailors ; it offers a valuable historical look at pre Gold Rush California, including its hide-trading ( animal skins / furs / pelts ) economy and Mexican ranchos ( small countryside community farms or ranch dedicated to raising livestock like cattle and sheep ).In writing Two Years Before The Mast, Richard H. Dana drew on the journal he kept of the hide trading expedition he joined, traveling around the Horn ( southern tip of South America ) to California in the year 1834 to 1836.
A description of Cape Horn , the land that is now California , and life at sea in general, concentrating on the abuses endured by sailors .
It includes some interaction with Native Americans ( Indians ), Santa Barbara , Monterey , California , etc., etc.The term \"before the mast\" refers to sailor\'s quarters - in the forecastle, in the front of the ship, the officers dwelling being near the Years After\" is Dana\'s follow-up account, published in 1869, revisiting his experiences in California from his famous 1840 book.
Dana returned in 1859 to find the state of California completely transformed by the Gold Rush , documenting the massive societal and structural changes in areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
It provides a striking contrast between the sleepy Mexican era coast he knew in 1834–1836 and the developed, bustling California of 1859. Dana revisits sites from his first trip and meets with acquaintances and individuals mentioned in his original book.\" Twenty Years After \" provides a unique historical perspective on how rapid expansion changed the Pacific coast before and after the discovery of gold.--------Two Years Before The Mast inspired writers like Herman Melville and others; it set a standard of realism in sea literature and prompted maritime reforms in the years that followed its publication.
It remains a significant work of American history and literature.Carefully packed for shipment to the Information:Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (August 1, 1815 - January 6, 1882)American lawyer and politician, most famous for his classic book Two Years Before the Mast.He was born into one of the first families of Cambridge , Massachusetts , grandson of Francis Dana and attended Harvard College. Having trouble with his vision after a bout of the measles, he thought a voyage might help his failing sight.
Rather than going on a Grand Tour of Europe, in 1834 he left Harvard to enlist as a common sailor on a voyage around Cape Horn to the then-remote (and owned by Mexico ) California.
He set sail on the brig sailing ship Pilgrim (180 tons, 86.5 feet long), visited a number of settlements in California (including Monterey , San Pedro , San Diego , Santa Barbara , and Santa Clara ), and returned to Massachusetts two years later as a deckhand on the Indiaman Alert, after making a winter passage around Cape Horn.
He set foot back in Boston in September 1836.He kept a diary, and after the trip wrote Two Years Before the Mast based on his experiences.The term \"before the mast\" refers to sailor\'s quarters - in the forecastle, in the front of the ship, the officers dwelling near the stern.
His writing evidences his later social feeling for the oppressed.After his sea voyage , he returned to Harvard, completing his education in 1837. He subsequently became a famous lawyer, and an expert on maritime law , many times defending common seamen . Later he became a prominent abolitionist , helping to found the anti- slavery Free Soil Party in 1848. In 1859 Dana visited Cuba while its annexation was being debated in the U.S. Senate. He visited Havana , a sugar plantation, a bullfight , and various churches, hospitals, schools, and prisons.
This trip is documented in his engaging book To Cuba and Back.During the American Civil War , Dana served as United States District Attorney , and successfully argued before the Supreme Court that the United States Government could rightfully blockade Confederate ports .
From 1867-1868 Dana was a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and also served as a U.S. counsel in the trial of Confederate President Jefferson Davis . In 1876, his nomination as ambassador to Great Britain was defeated in the Senate by political enemies, partly because of a lawsuit for plagiarism brought against him for a legal textbook he had edited.Dana died of influenza in Rome , and is buried in that city\'s Protestant Cemetery.His son, Richard Henry Dana III, married Edith Longfellow , daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.The point and city of Dana Point , California , located on the Pacific coast about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego , is named for him.