Info on this Naval Book

Didn't see a lot on the web, although Worthpoint says it's rare. I figured I would just ask the experts instead of relying on the internet. Thanks in advance for anything youcan share with me.

 

I've taken the liberty of reposting your photograph as Full Image so it's easy for all to see.

Debora

 

Is this the same book as yours with a different binding? Or perhaps an abridged version? Note asking price, not sold price.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22400494045&searchurl=sortby=17&tn=u.s.+navy+regulations+1913&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title5

Debora

 

@2manycats .....

 

Yes I believe it is. This was the 1913 edition, but was reprinted with updates and bound this way in 1917.

 

If they are the same, why is one titled "US Navy Regulations and Naval Instructions" while the second is titled "Extracts from......"?

 

Thanks!

 

Never seen one before. I usually see the Bluejacket's Manual, which is the basic handbook for sailors, and then usually from World War Two. I wonder if this was intended for officers or even naval lawyers? Pictures of the title and contents pages would help - but I think you'd get better advice from a military or maritime history collector.

The book Deborah linked to is offered by a reputable dealer, but well out of their specialties, so the price may be a guess for them. And as Bakersgma says, theirs is 'excerpts' - how many pages has yours?

 

Both the 1913 edition and this 1917 update are listed in WorldCat. This was published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, and thus is a publication of the U.S. government. It has been digitized and also some libraries still have the printed versions.

@2manycats has made a good point, that it would help to see the title page. Sometimes title pages have somewhat different titles than the ouside bindings do. Generally, the "official" title of a book is the one on the title page. When searching online it is best to search for both.

 

I didn't notice at first but you're right. The Extracts version has just over 300 pages, the version I have has 569 pages, and may have had a few more.
And that's a good tip about the title page,it is indeed different than the cover.

 

I looked a little more in WorldCat. The 1913 edition is cataloged with the title "Regulations for the government of the navy of the United States ... : 1913." This would be what was on the title page of the 1913 edition. (Note that library catalogers often put most words of a title in lower case, even if they were not that way in the original.)

One catalog record for the 1913 edition includes the following notes and description:
On cover: U.S. Navy regulations and naval instructions, 1913.
"Naval instructions": 569 p.
1 preliminary leaf, 352, 415, 569 pages ; 22 cm

There was a 1917 reprint of the above, with the following information in the catalog record. Title: Regulations for the government of the navy of the United States ... : 1913.

Notes and description of the 1917 reprint:
"Naval instructions": 569 p.
"Reprinted 1917 with all changes up to and including No. 9."
352, 417, 569 pages ; 22 cm

I see you have just posted the title page. So, you have the 1917 reprint, not the extracts version.

 

WorldCat is a free online source to check for catalog records contributed by thousands of libraries. I think the majority are U.S. libraries, but there are a lot from other countries also. One caveat is that sometimes many libraries have cataloged a title and they might make slight changes. So it's important after doing a search to click the link that says to view all editions. I always use the Advanced search.

https://www.worldcat.org/advancedsearch

Just for your future use if you are interested. I worked as a librarian at universities for many years, so am fairly familiar with it.

 

Thanks! That's great info

 

Ah, the proper title is very helpful. A quick check on Abebooks shows some 29 earlier editions:
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se... for the Government of the United States Navy

Many are offered by one Stan Clark, whom I don't know, but as a specialist in military books, I'd count him a good benchmark. I note he seems more interested in who owned it than its date, so research into R. T. Boynton might be fruitful. That said, it's interesting that there are no editions after 1909 for sale on Abebooks - I don't know why Great War-era ones should be scarcer: you'd think there would be more printed during wartime - or if they retitled it after 1917. And the look at the contents strengthens my view that this was intended for lawyers and high officers, so perhaps not so many were printed.

As a side note, Worldcat, recommended by Figtree3, is what is called a union catalog, combining the holdings of many libraries as an aid to researchers. There's also a British version, obtusely called JISC: https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/
and Canada's Voila: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/search/Pages/library-search.aspx. I assume there are also European comparables. I find them useful but often maddeningly vague, as the priorities of library catalogers and booksellers are quite different!

 

I know what you mean! I'm not a bookseller, but have known some in that field as friends. Different mindset and outlook. I was never a cataloger, so had to learn their lingo and something of their method in order to help people to do their research in libraries where I worked.

 

As somewhat of a military/naval book collector, my advice is that this book isn’t of much interest to collectors, it will probably be hard to sell if u intend to sell it.

The only saving grace would be if it has interesting illustrations and I’m guessing it is all text.