Home / Browse / Sports & Leisure / Blue-ings.
LARKIN, F.A.
Blue-ings.
Cruise of the forty-foot steam yacht Riverside in March, 1890, with a crew of five, who are pictured in a wonderful albumen photo showing them lounging in the bow of the yacht. The rest of the book, chronicling the Riverside's cruise, is reproduced by blueprinting, cyanotype sun-printing - white lettering and illustrations against a darker blue ground - hence the title. A somewhat facetious account of a pleasure cruise down Narragansett Bay, during which the crew members behaved exactly as you might expect a similar gathering would behave today - "Quartermaster has just discovered that a jug of water is on board. It was voted to throw it overboard, but upon reconsideration it was decided to keep it as it might be needed to feed the boiler …" After two days they put in at Newport and "repaired to the Hotel … The female portion of Newport's Society is very retiring and select as far as our observations intended …" Then home again. Hand lettered, with competent caricature illustrations to most pages. This is the copy of R.J. Gilmore, whose name is gilt-blocked on the front cover. The other members of the party are listed, along with their role for the duration of the trip, at the illustration of the dining room of the yacht. Thus Gilmore is described as Bos'n's Mate, C.B. Manville as Supercargo, Geo. H. Remington as Steward, F.A. Larkin, Assistant Engineer, and J.T. Henthorn, Quartermaster. It seems likely that the group came together through mutual interests in the field of engineering. Henthorn was an engineer, the author of a book on the Corliss engine; Manville was the founder of the Manville Covering Co., dealing with asbestos products; and Remington was patentee of a number of minor mechanical improvements, perhaps this goes some way to explaining the use of blueprinting to reproduce the Riverside's humorous log. Probably a unique survival, no copies traced institutionally or at auction, not recorded by either of the relevant bibliographies.
Quarto (289 × 239 mm). Original brown "alligator skin" cloth on card wraps, title gilt to the upper panel, pinkish buff endpapers. Original albumen print (184 × 228 mm) mounted as a frontispiece, 58 leaves of blueprint, rectos only, most with illustrations or historiated initials, embossed, gilt notary public stamp with ribbons in the name of John T. Henthorn to the last leaf. Cloth chipping around the edges, some spotting and browning, but overall very good.
