The Autobiography Of Commodore Charles Morris, U.S. Navy. With Portrait And Explanatory Notes. Boston. A. Williams & Co., 283 Washington Street. Published For The Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md. 1880, dated 1880 on the copyright page, so a first edition (with a single date and no other printings on the title and copyright pages, and the dates match), 111 pages of text followed by a four-page list of books published by A. Williams And Company, in beige wrappers and housed in a fitted blue box with “Commodore Charles Morris - Boston - 1880” in gilt letters on the spine of the box; the frontis portrait of Commodore Morris is loose, but inserted in the front, the box has blue marbled endpapers and measures 11 1/2 x 7 1/8 in. wide and the booklet measures 10 1/4 x 6 3/8 in. wide. Charles Morris (1784 - 1856) was a United States naval officer from Woodstock, Maine. After becoming a midshipman in 1799, he served in the Quasi-War with France, the First and Second Barbary Wars, and the War of 1812; he was wounded in battle and promoted to captain in 1813, and in 1814 he commanded raiding expeditions against British commerce, but was cornered in the Penobscot River in Maine by a British squadron and forced to take his men ashore, with their cannons, and fight off a British attack at the Battle of Hampden. His men were routed by the British and had to burn their ship and escape overland to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. But Morris had a knowledge and understanding of European naval warfare and a fine grasp of fleet tactics: while it escaped the eye of others, he noticed that the French repeatedly courted a leeward position in fleet actions and British ships had been disabled repeatedly as they tried to attack from the windward, and he gained fame as a fighting naval officer. In 1815 he was nominated to serve on the Board of Naval Commissioners, but was rejected; later his name was accepted and he served for fifteen years between 1823 and 1841, more years on the board than any other officer save one, and the last two years he served as president of the board. Morris also assumed command of the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston in 1827 and was Chief of the Bureau of Construction Equipment, and Repairs in the 1840’s, so a long naval career that reflected honor and gallantry. There are numerous copies in Special Collections around the country, but only one offered for sale online, and that one is an ex-library copy with library stamps and markings, so a rare copy of this title. The box was bound by W. Root & Son of London and the booklet was sold by Charle E. Lauriat of Boston. The booklet has age-wear, including browning and creases at some of the edges, but the text is very clean. The box has marbled endpapers, light rubbing at the tips of the box, and still an important history about a fabled American naval commander. #1679 #65