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[BLYTH, Stephen Cleveland]
History of the War between the United States and Tripoli, and other Barbary Powers.
To which is prefixed, a Geographical, Religious and Political History of the Barbary States in General.
Publisher: Salem, Printed at the Salem Gazette Office, 1806
Stock code: 43664
Price: £1,250 Currency Conversion
First edition, uncommon; the first book published in America on the conflict with the Barbary states. The first section sets the social and religious context of the Barbary coast, followed by a detailed account of American naval actions along the coast from 1784, when the United States first became responsible for the safety of her own citizens in the Mediterranean, until Consul Lear's treaty with the dey concluded the First Barbary (or Tripolitan) War in 1805. The book reprints Richard O'Brien's impassioned petition to "the ministers of the Gospel of every denomination throughout America … in behalf of his fellow sufferers" of 1795, which details the sufferings of the slave-captives. America's decision to intervene marks something of a coming of age: the decisive battle of Derne was the first battle of United States forces on foreign soil, and Stephen Decatur's seizure and destruction of the captured US frigate Philadelphia, described by Nelson as "the most bold and daring act of the age", established him as the first post-Revolutionary military hero. The appendix contains "General Eaton's Letter, to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy of the United States, at Sea, Mediterranean, August 9, 1805," in which Eaton questions the terms of the treaty which he claims has established the dey "in a more safe situation to do us and mankind mischief, than he possessed without the war". Inevitably quite well-represented in American institutions, in Britain only the BL copy shows in COPAC, and just a handful of copies have been offered for sale in the last 100 years.
Duodecimo (168 × 99 mm). Contemporary (perhaps publisher's) sheep-backed grey paper covered thin wooden boards. Housed in a black flat back cloth solander box. Somewhat browned, short tear, no loss, to title page [A1], externally rubbed with some chipping of the spine and stripping from the boards, but a sound, well-preserved copy in unsophisticated contemporary condition.
