The voyage of the Angela from Marseille to Shoreham 1931; There and back 1934. . . .
193159400Teddington Richmond upon Thames England: Privately printed Reginald Evelyn Child Beale 1931; 1934. Two vols. 4to. 4 95 1; 68 pp unpaginated. on very thick paper all leaves printed w/ gilt borders. Both vols. w/ linen-backed colour map frontispiece’s showing routes with 51 silver gelatin mounted original photos sized from 3.25 x 5.5 in. in 1st vol. 4 x 6 in. in 2nd vol. all mounted w/in gilt borders printed captions. Uniformly bound in full red morocco over beveled boards gilt inner dentelles marbled endpapers a.e.g. vol. I shaken some splitting to inner textblock both w/ very light occasional foxing some minor scuffing edgewear still a VG set. First editions of these two privately printed yachting memoirs for the 115-foot Steam Yacht “Angela†built originally the storied yacht building firm - Camper & Nicholsons Ltd. in 1896 and owned by the seed merchant and advertising display inventor Gilbert Beale. The Angela featured three state rooms for passengers and all fitted with private bath as well as dining drawing and smoking rooms. The first voyage stretched seven weeks through the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic to Shoreham UK including stops at Barcelona Tarragona Valencia Cartagena Alicante Malaga Gibraltar Cadiz Lagos Lisbon Vigo Santander Bayonne Bordeaux La Pallice Le Palais Brest and Jersey Island. At the start of the first trip the party learned that the captain hired for the cruise “threw a 3 days’ drunk so G.ilbert after a consultation with the Consular shipping agent paid him off and engaged Captain Lafuebre.†Reginald Beale’s 1877-1952 cruise narrative while chatty often refers to the less than stellar weather and uninspiring ports visited such as when referring to Marseille that “every wheeled vehicle is fitted with a bulb horn which the drivers use with irritating frequency. . . the wind the dusts the lack of paint and in excess of poster the shabbiness.†In Barcelona he writes about the night life at the “Eden†that they “sat down to a procession of homely women who snapped castanets sang songs which no one seemed to appreciate and danced Spanish fashion by wriggling the body and stamping the feet.†The photos depict ships & sailing yachts points of interest the beaches at Santander Canadian canoes at Bordeaux the Saint-Philibert ferry and more. Even with the disappointments of “dull people and duller towns†they all enjoyed the great adventure. The second voyage sets out from Southampton to Cannes in the “Angela†in 1934 where it was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Roditi and they returned via the RMS Strathnaver a P&O Steam Navigation Co. ocean liner launched originally in 1931. After leaving Southampton in the evening and viewing Bournemouth the Angela rolled so heavily in the middle of the night that they fastened everything down and rode it out until arriving in Brest. He has included photos of the La Reine des Anges sailing vessel the Artiglio merchant ship at Brest the three-masted “Galatea†at Ferrol as well as the Jaime I Spanish dreadnought battleship launched in 1921 the HMS Ramillies and writes about listening to the launching of the RMS Queen Mary Sept. 26 1934. Gilbert Beale 1868-1967 and his younger brother Reginald were longtime directors and executives with the Carter & Co. Seeds in Great Britain and Gilbert was noted for inventing and patenting seed packet displays. The first voyage featured William Edgecumbe Rendle and his wife who was an innovative inventor of special glazed panels for greenhouses often used by vineyards in England as well as shades for fruit-trees and plants. Privately printed, [Reginald Evelyn Child Beale], hardcover
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