WHITE-JACKET; or The World in a Man-of-War

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1850. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. First edition, first printing with p.iii containing an extract from Fuller's Good Sea-Captain; p.iv a Note, dated New York, March, 1850; p.361 with the missigned Q*; and p.433 with the signature mark T not present. Melville's fifth book, which is based on his fourteen months service in the United States Navy, aboard the frigate USS "Neversink" (actually the USS United States). At the urging of New Hampshire Senator John P. Hale, who was inspired by Melville's "vivid description of flogging, a brutal staple of 19th century naval discipline" in this novelized memoir, the United States Congress banned the practice on all U.S. ships in September 1850. Octavo: 465, [1, blank], [6, ads] pp. The original blind-stamped brown cloth binding has been rebacked with the original spine strip laid down and the yellow coated endpapers intact. Mild foxing to the contents. The boards are edgeworn and showing in places, with some darkening along the spine. BAL13662. (Inventory #: 78076)