The United States' Naval Chronicle.; Vol. I.
Washington DC: James Wilson, 1824. First Edition, presumed first printing. Hardcover. Apparently Volume I was the only volume issued. 395, [1], xii pages. Tabular information. Index. Extremely RARE in any condition. Front board and first two front end pages separated but present. Spine gone. Rear board missing. Binding copy. Some page foxing and soiling. At the time of his death, Charles Washington Goldsborough was Chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing of the Navy Department. He had been a government employee for nearly half a century. He was employed as a clerk in the Navy Department at its initial organization in 1798. He then served as chief clerk of the department under Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith. When the Board of Navy Commissioners was instituted in 1815, Goldsborough was appointed clerk in that office, a position he retained until 1834 when he was appointed Secretary of the Board. In 1842, when the Navy Department was reorganized into five separate bureaus, Goldsborough was placed at the head of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing. Goldsborough was highly educated and according to his obituary in The National Intelligencer, “possessed in an eminent degree the finer qualities of the heart.” In his later years, Goldsborough served as president of the Provident Association of Clerks in the Executive Departments of the General Government within the District of Columbia. Upon Goldsborough’s death, that body formally resolved “an expression of their deep and heartfelt regret at the loss of one with whom they had long been associated, and for whom, whilst living, it was their pride to give repeated evidences of their highest respect and esteem.”. This work has apparently been reprinted several times, perhaps as early as 1960. This may be, at this time, the only copy of the original/first edition available to collectors and research institutions. It has not been rebound by Ground Zero Books, Ltd. for sale in order to enable the purchaser to rebind it to their needs and taste. From the Preface, The chronologist owes to the world a true and impartial account of the events he proposes to record....truth commands ... that his record, to be useful, must be true....Much of our young, yet interesting history, has already sunk under the pall of oblivion;... That part which relates to our Navy, and our early maritime expeditions, in our revolutionary war, has nearly disappeared from our view, and the most minute research can rescue only a diminutive portion. This is not to be confused with The Naval Chronicle, which was a British periodical published monthly between January, 1799 and December, 1818. It contained information about the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, including biographies, histories, news, and essays on nautical subjects, as well as poems and ballads on a variety of related topics. Condition: Poor.
Keywords: United States Navy, American Revolution, Revolutionary War, John Barry, William Bainbridge, Stephen Decatur, Gun Boats, Secretary of the Navy, Mediterranean Squadron, David Porter, Edward Prebble, John Rodgers, Tripoli, Tunis, Warships, Naval Operati
[Book #82074]
Price: $5,000.00