Steamboat Days by Fred Erving Dayton

[Waverley]

Hi all

I've just acquired a copy of this - its not as new as some the books here as it was originally published about 1923 (mine is the 1939 reprint)

It's a history of steamboat services in the US from Fulton (and even earlier experimenters) onwards - mostly on the East Coast.  Mostly paddlers, of course - earlier chapters include the Hudson River, Lake Champlain and various services on Long Island Sound - not finished it yet but hoping to find something on famous lines like the Joy Line, the Fall River Line, the Old Bay line and some of the big paddlers on the Great Lakes.

It's not illustrated except by some quite nice drawings, but it's a new area for me and absolutely fascinating.

Regards

David

[Waverley]

This is a follow up to the previous post re this book. I finished it some time ago - and, my goodness it was heavy going!  

As expected, it mainly covers the North East Coast of the USA - coastal and river services.   (There are also a couple of superficial chapters on the Great Lakes and Mississippi system).  Almost all the boats mentioned are paddlers.

This is an enormous subject - probably far too much to fit into 400 pages.  Many paragraphs are little more than lists of the boats that worked a particular route without further detail, not even dates. It is also vague on the names of many companies, what services actually ran and when. And it needs an index!

I think I will need to go through it several times to get real benefit - where it scores is that it provides an indication of all (or nearly all) the shipping activity in the regin - hopefully it will help me see other, more localised books (as and when acquired) in context.

And there's some nice snippets as well - I was amazed to find that two US paddlers are described in the book as being used as troop transports across the English Channel in World War 1 - if the book had an index I could probably find the reference again and let you know what they were!

In short - fascinating, hard to read, patchy, and not for those whose sole interest is modelling.

Regards

David

[AlistairD]

 
 

 
This is a follow up to the previous post re this book.    I finished it some time ago - and, my goodness it was heavy going!

As    expected, it mainly covers the North East Coast of the USA - coastal and river    services. (There are also a couple of superficial chapters on the Great Lakes    and Mississippi system). Almost all the boats mentioned are    paddlers.

This is an enormous subject - probably far too much to fit    into 400 pages. Many paragraphs are little more than lists of the boats that    worked a particular route without further detail, not even dates. It is also    vague on the names of many companies, what services actually ran and when. And    it needs an index!
   
There is a 1974 reprint by MacDonald and    Janes of London, which does have an index  
   
Alistair

[Waverley]

Belated thanks for this, Alistair. I took a look at ABEbooks and one of the many copies of the 1974 edition includes a brief note that that edition included an index, which I assume was created especially for it. Didn't appreciate the significance at the time (I must confess to looking for the cheapest copy I could find in the UK) and it's too late now, unfortunately.

Incidentally, are you able to comment on "History of American steam navigation", 1903 by John H Morrison, and later reprinted? I've seen it described as a "bible" and the table of contents looks promising.

Regards

David

[AlistairD]

 
 

  ----- Original Message -----
   From:    Waverley (books@paddleducks.co.uk)
   To: books@paddleducks.co.uk (books@paddleducks.co.uk)
   Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2005 5:22    AM
   Subject: RE: Steamboat Days by Fred    Erving Dayton
   

   
Belated thanks for this, Alistair. I took a look at    ABEbooks and one of the many copies of the 1974 edition includes a brief note    that that edition included an index, which I assume was created especially for    it. Didn't appreciate the significance at the time (I must confess to looking    for the cheapest copy I could find in the UK) and it's too late now,    unfortunately.

Incidentally, are you able to comment on "History of    American steam navigation", 1903 by John H Morrison, and later reprinted? I've    seen it described as a "bible" and the table of contents looks    promising.
   
That's not a book I have heard of at  all

[Waverley]

Hi Alistair

I thought that as you presumably own the Dayton book you may well have the Morrison one as it appears to cover the same area.   Here is a link to a current ebay ad - it provides rather more info than average on ebay, and includes a table of contents.  Looks as if it could be interesting - there's also lots of copies in Abebooks

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4576234457&fromMakeTrack=true

Regards

David

[AlistairD]

 
 

  ----- Original Message -----
   From:    Waverley (books@paddleducks.co.uk)
   To: books@paddleducks.co.uk (books@paddleducks.co.uk)
   Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 10:10    PM
   Subject: RE: Steamboat Days by Fred    Erving Dayton
   

   
Hi Alistair

I thought that as you presumably    own the Dayton book you may well have the Morrison one as it appears to cover    the same area. Here is a link to a current ebay ad - it provides rather more    info than average on ebay, and includes a table of contents. Looks as if it    could be interesting - there's also lots of copies in Abebooks

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4576234457&fromMakeTrack=true

Regards

David



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[AlistairD]

 
 

  ----- Original Message -----
   From:    Waverley (books@paddleducks.co.uk)
   To: books@paddleducks.co.uk (books@paddleducks.co.uk)
   Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 10:10    PM
   Subject: RE: Steamboat Days by Fred    Erving Dayton
   

   
Hi Alistair

I thought that as you presumably    own the Dayton book you may well have the Morrison one as it appears to cover    the same area. Here is a link to a current ebay ad - it provides rather more    info than average on ebay, and includes a table of contents. Looks as if it    could be interesting - there's also lots of copies in Abebooks

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4576234457&fromMakeTrack=true

   
I got my copy of the Fred Dayton one from Mainmast    Books, when they were run from Saxmundham by John Cook and he offered a lot of    foreign books  
   
Alistair