Paul Jones, His Exploits In English Seas During 1778 - 1780, Contemporary Accounts Collected From English Newspapers With A Complete Bibliography, By Don C. Seitz, New York, E.P. Dutton And Company 681 Fifth Avenue, 3/4 bound in original morocco, with six gilt-ruled compartments, gilt titles and gilt devices on the spine, blue marbled covers, “Bound by Strikeman” stamped on reverse of front free blue endpaper, “Paul Jones - Contemporary Accounts And Bibliography” on the half title, a limited and numbered edition signed by Don C. Seitz, the limitation page reads “Only forty-three copies of this work have been printed on Old Stratford paper and specially bound, each being signed by the author … This copy is numbered 1”, which means this is the very first copy of the book to come off the press. With a tissue guard protecting the frontis portrait of Paul Jones, from a wax medallion portrait signed W. S. 1798, a 1917 date on the copyright page, with a thirteen-page foreword, uncut pages in the text, 164 pages of text with a fold-out at the end, followed by a Bibliography that runs from page 165 to 327, for a total of 327 pages altogether, and there are uncut pages in the bibliography as well. It also comes in the original linen dust jacket and publisher’s slipcase. See Smith, Amer. Rev. 1340. Paul Jones (1747 - 1792) was born and raised in Scotland, and through a lot of twists and turns, became the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. Born as John Paul, he later added Jones to his name and is known to us as the more familiar John Paul Jones. He was a freemason and made friends among America’s political elite, including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and he made enemies as well, who accused him of piracy. His actions in British waters in the American Revolution earned him an international reputation that persists to this day. He became a sailor when he was just thirteen and was forced to flee to America when he killed one of his crew during a mutiny aboard a merchant ship, and after arriving in Virginia, he joined the American navy to fight against Britain. He had the honor of hoisting the first U.S. ensign - the Grand Union Flag - aboard the Alfred in 1776, and later captured sixteen prizes on raids near Nova Scotia, but he often disagreed with those in authority, including Commodore Esek Hopkins; Jones believed Hopkins was hindering his advancement by talking down his campaign plans. Eventually Jones was given command of the Ranger, which captured the British ship Drake, and this was one of the Continental Navy's few significant military victories during the Revolution. In 1779, Jones took command of the USS Bonhamme Richard and engaged in battle with the British Serapis, and where Jones apparently uttered those famous words “I have not yet begun to fight”, but no one can really prove if he ever uttered those words - the British commander had asked Jones to surrender the Bonhamme Richard because the ship had been so badly damaged, but he defiantly refused, and Jones ultimately won the day for the American side. His reputation was made, and in 1782 the French honored him with a gold medal, and yet in Britain at this time, he was denigrated as a pirate. That same year Jones was appointed to command the 74-gun USS America, but his command fell through when Congress decided to give America to the French as replacement for a wrecked French ship. As a result, he was assigned to Europe in 1783 to collect prize money owed to his former deck hands, and this too fell through, leaving Jones without prospects for active employment, so he entered into the service of the Empress Catherine II of Russia - Catherine the Great - who held Jones in high esteem. Yet that too led him nowhere - he was accused of raping a ten-year-old girl and fell into disfavor with the Empress. By this time, his memoirs had been published in Edinburgh. Inspired by them, James Fenimore Cooper and Alexandre Dumas later wrote their own adventure novels about Jones: Cooper's 1824 novel The Pilot contains fictionalized accounts of Jones’ maritime activities and Dumas' Captain Paul, published in 1846, is a follow-up novel to The Pilot. The book measures 9 5/8 x 6 5/8 in. wide, the binding is tight and the pages are exceptionally clean; the only blemishes are a smidge of rubbing on the heel and a speck of rubbing at one tip, and light threads at the top of the linen jacket and some browning on the inside of the linen jacket, and that’s it. This is a beautiful first edition that is numbered and the very first copy to come off the press, in the original linen dust jacket and slipcase, which has wear around the edges, but doesn’t affect the book, and the book is exceptionally rare. It is in a Stikeman binding, which of itself is valuable and hard to come by, and there are no other first copies about this naval hero to come off the press, just this one. #1688 #39