A Sketch Of the Life and Voyages Of Captain Alvah Dewey
A Sketch of the Life and Voyages of Captain Alvah Dewey.
Comprising A Period of Twenty-Six Years By Silas Judd, esq. Printed by Isaac Lyon in Chittenango: 1838
Reviewed by Bruce McKinney
On a keyword search in the AED (Americana Exchange Database) for Chittenango, which is neither a hot sauce or a dance, I ran across A Sketch of the Life and
Voyages of Captain Alvah Dewey...and did an ABE (Abebooks.com) search, as I often do with books that seem obscure. This one was there and priced at $750. I sent an email inquiring about the condition and price and ended up paying $656 delivered. It’s a good buy.
The book isn’t worth tons of money but the priced records are encouraging. In the AED there are nine records covering the period 1945 to 1988 and priced $65 to $750. The William Reese Company sold a copy in 1992 for $1,500 and there the trail goes cold. There are no auction records in the ABPC (Americana Book Prices Current) going back to 1975. I’d call it uncommon and unappreciated. The copy I bought is quite nice in original boards. I immediately turned it over to Coriander Reisbord to have the binding invisibly firmed up as it was quite tender. One hundred and fifty dollars poorer, I then sat down to read it. And it’s a very good read.
Mr. Dewey, born in New York State in the late 18th century, declared for the open seas while quite young. On page 6 he stopped at Poughkeepsie thereby confirming it as part of my Hudson River Valley collection and then moved on to connect to Connecticut, New York City, Baltimore, the Caribbean, Texas and France. The book was definitely written by a book dealer with an eye to future appreciation. It’s published in a place that was, at the time, smaller than a mouse’s sneeze and is today close by Cazenovia Junior College, where crazed young men from nearby men’s colleges sought the company of young women in the 1960’s (as I can personally attest). For imprint specialists it is a rarity.
The book itself doesn’t spend much time discussing Mr. Dewey in the first person. He does this and does that but motivation and feelings are not a significant portion of this 113 page epistle. It is strong on New York place names such as Albany, Hudson and Utica, makes references to New York City and Baltimore and then gets the man out on the ocean where he switches boats every six pages rising in life to Captain before perhaps falling victim to the Peter Principle and returning to First Mate.
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
