Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth, 1924

Kingsley, Charles. Westward Ho! or, the Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, of Burrough, in the County of Devon, In the Reign of Her Most Glorious Majesty Queen Elizabeth. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,  1924. Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. Black hardcover boards with full color illustration on front, gilt stamped titles to spine, pictorial endpapers, deckled edge, and nine full color full page illustrations throughout. 

This is a very handsome vintage printing of Charles Kingsley’s Westward Ho! First published in Cambridge in 1855, this later 1924 edition is creatively illustrated by famed 20th century artist and illustrator, N. C. Wyeth. This book was published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, in New York. The book is presented in its original black hardcover boards with gilt stamped titles on the spine, a full color front paste-down illustration, illustrated endpapers, and nine full color illustrations by Wyeth throughout. 

Beginning in the fictional seaport of Bideford Quay, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Westward Ho! follows Amyas Leigh, who sets sail on a life of adventure on the high seas with Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and other privateers to the New World, namely the Preston Somers Expedition and Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition. After battling pirates and treasure hunting in the Caribbean, Amyas and his crew members face the Spanish Armada. 

As laudatory as Kingsley is about British might and intrepidness, the novel also draws parallels between the novel’s Elizabethan events and that of his own Victorian era, urging readers to see similarities between England's past clashes with Spain and its current tensions with the French and Napoleon.

Newell Convers Wyeth is considered one of America's greatest illustrators. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and created over 3,000 paintings over his lifetime. He also illustrated many books, primarily for publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, which accelerated his career. Wyeth worked primarily as a realist painter.

CONDITION: 

Good condition overall. Hardcover black boards with full page illustrated front cover, gilt stamped titles to spine, deckled edge. Illustrated pictorial endpapers. All nine full color illustrations are present. Book is clean inside. Scuffs and bumping to boards, scratches to front illustration. 413 pp. Dimensions: 9 1/2" H x 7 1/4" W x 1 1/2" D.




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