This book is also titled "Whaleships of New Bedford" by Clifford Ashley, with sixty plates by the author and the Introduction by Franklin D. Roosevelt, future President of the United States. The book was published in Boston and New York by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1929 and is a limited first edition. The book has a red binding with gilt lettering on the spine and a gilt whale on the front cover, blank endpapers with the owner's initials inscribed on the front flyleaf, the title page and a copyright page dated 1929, which makes this a first edition, then a two-page List of Plates, the two-page Introduction by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, followed by sixty pen-and-ink drawings by the author. The limitation page reads "This edition is limited to one thousand and thirty-five copies of which one thousand are for sale". The book is also protected by a dust jacket and comes in a slipcase with a paste-down cover of a whale hunt. Ashley (1881- 1947) was an American artist, author, sailor, and expert on knots. He was born in New Bedford and became interested in art in high school, then went on to art school in Boston. In 1901, he studied art along with his friend N. C. Wyeth, then enrolled at Howard Pyle's art school in Wilmington, Delaware. Pyle helped secure commissions for his students, and Ashley's early work included frontispieces for books and illustrations for a variety of magazines such as McClure's and Success, so Ashley kept good company and had top notch teachers. Ashley had a knowledge of sperm whaling due to his upbringing in New Bedford. In 1904 Harper's Magazine commissioned him to write an article on whaling; the project required him to become even more familiar with the topic, so he set sail aboard the bark Sunbeam for six weeks; during the voyage he witnessed the hunting and killing of three whales. When Ashley's article was published, the master of the Sunbeam praised the article, stating, "I think it is the best whale story I ever read ... and the illustrations are so true to life …" Ashley was also wrote The Ashley Book of Knots (1944), a large reference manual with directions and illustrations for nearly two thousand knots; these included several knots devised by Ashley, such as the stopper knot and Ashley's bend, and he won high praise for the work. The book here measures 10 7/8 x 8 7/8 in. wide, with a tight binding and exceptionally clean plates and text. The gilt on the spine and front cover are bright and fresh, and the spine has slight bumps on the heel and crown. The dust jacket has a large chip at the crown, a brown spot and small holes near the image of Pan, darkening along the edges and a fold near the bottom edge, and it's served its purpose in protecting the binding. The slipcase has wear along the edges and a chip at the top, and the book is still an attractive copy of this scarce title about sperm whaling in New England in the late 18th and early 19th century. #144 #1529