A rather scarce title by Henry T. Cheever, author of The Whale and His Captors and Life in the Sandwich Islands, in which he takes the the immortal tale of John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, and adapts it to seamen by making it a voyage across the ocean to the Heavenly City. It is difficult not to hear Melville's old Father Mapple thundering in its pages. The present work was actually written in 1851, the author perhaps oblivious or borrowing inspiration from the Great White Whale himself.
The familiar characters and locals of Bunyan are swapped out for pirates, sea battles, safe harbors, fog-induced hallucinations, etc. Quite rare in the trade, especially in good condition.
Cheever, Henry T. A Reel in a Bottle, for Jack in the Doldrums; being the Adventures of Two of the King's Seamen in a Voyage to the Celestial Country. Edited from the Manuscripts of an Old Salt. New York. Charles Scribner. 1852. First Edition. 355pp.
Good + to very good condition. Crisp cloth a bit faded on spine, one gathering forward in text block, slight foxing at points. Else, a very attractive, clean example of a desirable title.
