The Book Shed

The "New Edition" of 1881. Blue and gilt decorated cloth. Shelf wear to tips, corners, and edges of the book; a few pages proud with gutter repairs. According to the OCLC the book was "Deemed by the "Wall Street Journal" as one of the five best books about female adventurers, "A Voyage in the Sunbeam" is a collection of Annie Brassey's journal entries of her voyage around the world with her family (husband and four children), crew (38 members), two dogs, three birds, and a "charming Persian kitten" (who disappeared early into the voyage) aboard a 157-foot steam-powered yacht. Starting at noon on July 1, 1876, they sailed from England and visited South America, the South Pacific, Asia, and the Middle East, returning back home on May 26, 1877. A best-seller in its day, with its descriptions of exotic locales and ship life, this book was even used as a textbook in the United States." From the preface Thomas Brassey writes of his wife Anne: "Still less would any sufficient record of the scenes and experiences of the long voyage have been preserved if not for her painstaking desire not only to see everything thoroughly, but to record her impressions faithfully and accurately." From Wikipedia: "A Voyage in the Sunbeam, describing their journey round the world in 1876–77 with a complement of 43, including family, friends and crew, ran through many English editions and was translated into at least five other languages. Her accounts of later voyages include Sunshine and Storm in the East (1880); In the Trades, the Tropics, and the Roaring Forties (1885); and The Last Voyage (1889, published posthumously). She had published privately earlier works including A Flight of the Meteor, detailing two cruises in the Mediterranean on their earlier yacht Meteor and A Voyage in the Eothen a description of their travels to Canada and the United States in 1872. She was also involved with the publication of Colonel Henry Stuart-Wortley's 1882 Tahiti, a Series of Photographs. In July 1881 King Kal kaua of Hawaii, who had been greatly pleased with her description of his kingdom, was entertained at Normanhurst Castle, and invested Lady Brassey with the Royal Order of Kapiolani." Every effort is made to ship all books and other items within 24 hours. Clean recycled packing material will be used when possible. The Book Shed has a been a member of the Vermont Antiquarian Bookseller's Association since 1997. An online bookseller with a bookshop sensibility!