(4) Books on American & English Privateers, 1856 - 1931. These four books are titled "History Of The American Privateers, And Letters-Of-Marque, During Our War With England In The Years 1812, '13, And '14, Interspersed With Several Naval Battles Between American And British Ships of War", the second book is titled "Some Famous Privateers Of New England", the third book is titled "English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century, Lectures Delivered At Oxford, Easter Terms, 1893 - 4", and the last book is titled "Wolves of the Channel (1681 - 1856)". The first book was written by George Coggeshall and published and printed for the author by C. T. Evans in 1856, the second book was written by Ralph M. Eastman and privately printed in 1928 by the State Street Trust Company, the third book was written by James Anthony Froude and published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1904, and the last book was written by W. Branch Johnson and published by Wishart & Co. in 1931. The Coggeshall book has brown embossed boards with gilt lettering and gilt decorations of a sailing ship on the spine, yellow endpapers, a lithographed frontis of the Battle between the Constitution and the Guerriere in 1812, a protective tissue guard and the title page, then the copyright page which is dated 1856 and makes this a first edition (the dates on the title page and copyright page match), and it is a first edition according to WorldCat. It has a three-page Preface, six pages of Contents, a nine-page message to the President, a Report that runs from xxiv to xxxviii, a three-page Proclamation to the President by John Adams, a page from the Boston Chronicle, a twelve-page Introduction, 422 pages of text, five pages of Notes and Explanations, and an Index that runs from page 429 to 438. The Eastman book has black wrappers with a decorated cover, blank endpapers, a frontis of the Brigantine Cambrian of Boston, the title page, the copyright page which is dated 1928 and makes this a first edition (the dates on the title page and copyright page match), a one-page Foreword and a message from the president of State Trust, a table of Contents, and 87 pages of text, including photos and numerous illustrations. The Froude book has dark green boards with gilt lettering on the spine, blank end-papers, an inscription on one endpaper that reads "A.H.H from E.W. M …", the half-title, then a list of The Works of James Anthony Froude, the title page, a copyright date of 1895, which makes this a later edition, one page of Contents, 228 pages of text, a four-page list of The Works of James Anthony Froude by Charles Scribner's Sons (with more details about book sizes and pricing), the top edge is gilt, and some of the chapter titles in the book are "John Hawkins and the African Slave Trade" and "Drake's Voyage Round the World" - Drake was an English privateer in the late 1500's. Froude (1818 - 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine who turned away from the clergy and became one of the best-known historians of his time for his History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada. The Johnson book has maroon boards with gilt lettering on the spine, blank endpapers, an illustrated frontis of the Battle of La Hogue from 1692, the title page, the copyright page is dated 1931, which makes this a first edition (the dates on the title page and copyright page match and no other printings listed), a Note from the author (page vii), one page for Contents and one for Illustrations, a short two-page Bibliography, a six-page Index, and a total of 310 pages in the book. (See Bill McBride's A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions.) The Coggeshall book measures 9 1/2 x 6 1/8 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages and text, there are chips at the top of the spine and bumps at the bottom, the gilt has faded on the spine, there's wear at the tips and the tips are turned in, there's a paper shadow on the front endpapers and offset on the title page from the tissue guard and frontispiece, and penciled notes on the yellow endpapers at the rear; the Eastman book measures 8 7/8 x 6 in. wide and is in very good condition, with a tight binding and clean pages and text; the Froude book is 8vo. and measures 7 3/4 x 5 3/8 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages and text, light wear at the heel and crown of the spine, the gilt on the spine is slightly faded, there are dampstains on a few pages, uncut pages at the front, and two tips are turned in; the Johnson book is 8vo. and measures 9 x 6 in. wide, with a tight binding, the gilt is faded on the spine, occasional brown spots on the endpapers and title pages, some penciled notes on a rear endpaper, the rest of the pages are clean and tight, and the four books provide a great background for scholars and history buffs who want to know more about the role of privateers in American and early New England history, and the role of privateers in English history as well. #150 #1604