We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome, Signed with Dust Jacket

Summary

A Signed First Edition, Sixteenth Impression of 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea' by Arthur Ransome in Very Good condition in a Good condition dust jacket published by Jonathan Cape Limited in 1947.

Edition

First Edition, Sixteenth Impression
Edition identified by: Publisher's stated imprint information. [References: Arthur Ransome: A Bibliography [Winchester Bibliographies of 20th Century Writers] by Wayne G. Hammond, reference A31 and A Ransome Book-Case by John Cowen, page 83].

Condition

Very Good/Good
A tidy copy which is SIGNED by Arthur Ransome on the title page, in a reasonably presentable dust jacket. All notable faults: Book has minor wear on the corners and edges, light foxing on the prelims and page ends and contemporary previous owner's inscription. Dust jacket has moderate to heavy chipping, up to 10 mm (3/8 of an inch) deep at the head and foot of the spine, light to moderate surface soiling and moderate wear on the corners and edges.

Author/s

Ransome, Arthur [Mitchell] Illustrator: Arthur [Mitchell] Ransome
Arthur [Mitchell] Ransome (1884 to 1967)—English author and journalist, born in Leeds and best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books (Swallows and Amazons, Swallowdale, Peter Duck, Winter Holiday, Coot Club, Pigeon Post, We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea, Secret Water, The Big Six, Missee Lee, The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All and Great Northern?). He was also the author of forty or so other titles including other children's books, fishing books, sailing books and books on politics.

Format

Hardcover
Octavo (20-25 cm high). 351 printed pages in publisher's original green cloth with gilt 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea', 'Arthur Ransome', Jonathan Cape Limited logo on the spine and blind-stamped 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea' on the upper board, in dust jacket. Contains black and white frontispiece, 33 black and white illustrations and colour map endpapers by Arthur Ransome.

Publisher

Jonathan Cape Limited, London, 1947
Jonathan Cape Limited—(Founded in 1919) British publisher founded in 1919 by Herbert Jonathan Cape (1879-1960), the son of a builder who started as an apprentice in the book trade. The company was initially named Jonathan Page and Company (Page was his mother's maiden name) and this changed to Jonathan Cape in 1921. Its best known books and authors are probably: T. E. Lawrence, Arthur Ransome, the later Roald Dahl books, Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, Fitzroy Maclean's Eastern Approaches, the James Bond series by Ian Fleming and more recently Anita Brookner, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Salman Rushdie. It is currently an imprint of Random House.

Series

Swallows and Amazons Number Seven
Swallows and Amazons—A series of 12 (Swallows and Amazons, Swallowdale, Peter Duck, Winter Holiday, Coot Club, Pigeon Post, We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea, Secret Water, The Big Six, Missee Lee, The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All and Great Northern?) children's books by English author Arthur Ransome, named after the title of the first book in the series. They involve the outdoor adventures of children, most notably John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker, Nancy and Peggy Blackett and Dick and Dorothea Callum. They portray an idyllic, yet also realistic, depiction of childhood adventure set in the 1930s. The series contains 12 books. The first book was originally published in 1930 and the last book was originally published in 1947. Titles in the series are: 1) 'Swallows and Amazons', 2) 'Swallowdale', 3) 'Peter Duck', 4) 'Winter Holiday', 5) 'Coot Club', 6) 'Pigeon Post', 7) 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea', 8) 'Secret Water', 9) 'The Big Six', 10) 'Missee Lee', 11) 'The Picts and the Martyrs: Or Not Welcome at All', 12) 'Great Northern?' and 13) 'Coots in the North (Unfinished)'.

Content

Content
John, Susan, Titty and Roger (and Sinbad the Kitten) find themselves alone, fighting a night gale in the treacherous waters of the North Sea on the tiny yacht the Goblin.

There are twenty seven chapters: 1) 'A Bowline Knot', 2) 'Sleepy Skipper', 3) ''We've All Promised '', 4) 'Down the River', 5) 'Sleeping Afloat', 6) ''Nothing Can Possibly Happen'', 7) ''He's Been an Awful Long Time…'', 8) 'The Beach End Buoy', 9) 'Drifting Blind', 10) 'Out to Sea', 11) 'Whose Fault Now?', 12) 'A Cure for Sea Sickness', 13) 'Wooolworth Plate', 14) 'At Pin Mill', 15) 'Keeping Awake', 16) 'Dawn at Sea', 17) 'Shipwrecked Sailor', 18) 'Land Ho! What Land?', 19) 'Signal for a Pilot', 20) 'Grown-Up Noises Below', 21) 'Surprises All Around', 22) 'In a Foreign Port', 23) 'Dutch Afternoon', 24) 'Happier Voyage', 25) 'Lost! Two Days and a Boat', 26) 'Nothing to Declare' and 27) 'Coil Down'.

Full page illustrations include : 'Landing on the Hard', 'Among the Moored Yachts', 'The 'Butt and Oyster' And Alma Cottage', ''SH SH!', 'First Aid', 'Chart of Approaches to Harwich', 'Harwich Looked Like an Island', 'Shotley Pier', 'Inside the Goblin', 'Morning Dip', 'Jim Rowed Away', 'Goodbye to Anchor and Chain!', 'The Beach End Buoy', 'Fending Off with the Mop', 'Points of the Compass', 'All But O.B', 'Night Encounter', 'Pin Mill', 'Lightship at Night', 'The Loom of a Lighthouse', 'Cooking and Steering', 'Rescue at Sea', 'On the Cross -Trees', 'Signal for a Pilot', 'Ahoy! Ahoy!', 'What They Saw Through the Portholes (I).', 'What They Saw Through the Portholes (Ii)', 'In the Lock at Flushing', 'Tied Up in Harbour', 'The Milk - Cart', 'Meeting the Sailing Ship', 'Entrance to Harwich' and 'Turbaned Native'.

Link

Printable Details.

Notes

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