Item 42 is an item Ten Pound Island tells us is “not as looney a book as the title might indicate:” On the Construction of the Arc... by W. Radford. Radford makes an interesting point, that the proportions of the Arc as described in the Book of Genesis are the same as that of the SS Great Western. The Great Western was the first of the paddle wheel steamships built for Atlantic crossings. It was at the height of its career when this book was published in 1840. Its last mission would be as a troop transport in the aforementioned Crimean War in the 1850s. $300.
Item 2 is an exciting, anonymously written title: The Surprising Adventures and Sufferings of John Rhodes, a Seaman of Workington, published in 1799. Rhodes was captured by Indians while cutting wood on shore, and lived through the type of sufferings expected from the genre of Indian Captivity. However, before becoming too upset for the misery suffered by Mr. Rhodes, it should be noted that this work is believed to be fiction. $750.
Ten Pound Island Book Company may be reached at 978-283-5299 or tenpound@tenpound.com. Their website is www.tenpound.com.
