Folio Archives 370: The Wreck of the Wager by John Bulkeley and John Byron 1983
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1wcarter
The Wreck of the Wager. The Narratives of John Bulkeley and the Hon. John Byron 1983
In 1740, Admiral Anson set off from England with a fleet to harass the Spanish in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile. The HMS Wager was one of the supply ships for this expedition.
The initial captain of the Wager died during the Atlantic crossing and was replaced by a Captain Cheap. After passing through the Straits of Magellan, the Wager was wrecked on a desolate island (now known as Wager Island) off the southern coast of Chile. Captain Cheap was dictatorial, indecisive, sickly, narcissistic and temperamental. As a result, the marooned sailors broke up into different groups and went their own ways in attempts to reach England again without being captured by the Spanish.
Only two groups, one led by the gunner John Bulkeley, and the other by Captain Cheap, who was accompanied by the 16 year old John Byron (grandfather to the author Lord Byron), made it back to England.
This volume contains two books – the narratives of Bulkeley and Byron as they struggled back to England over several years – and a conclusion by Christopher Hibbert that wraps up the loose ends and closes the narratives.
The extreme difficulties both groups encountered in their travels, from starvation and assault by natives, to freezing conditions and appalling weather along with a description of the hunter-gatherer and brutal lifestyle of the local natives, make for fascinating reading about life nearly 300 years ago.
The 276 page book is introduced and edited by Christopher Hibbert, and contains eleven leaves of contemporary etchings, paintings and drawings. It is quarter bound in dark blue leather with pale blue paper boards printed with a repeat linocut pattern in black by Edward Bawden. The map endleaves are printed black on yellow. The page tops are stained cream and the plain cream slipcase measures 23.2x14.5cm.
………………………………………….
But that is not the end of the story of this book.
I bought the copy above second-hand in 2017 for A$10 (£5) and read it soon after purchase.
In 2018 I visited Cuba. Every Saturday in Havana there is an open-air book market where thousands of books are spread across makeshift tables in a square. Naturally I visited the market, but there was little of interest as virtually everything was in Spanish and most books were battered paperbacks.
As I passed one table, on seeing a foreigner the ancient man who owned it held up a book and repeatedly shouted “Libro muy antiguo, Ingleso” (very old book, English). Intrigued, I took a very battered volume from his hands and was amazed to find it was an edition of Byron’s narrative of the Wreck of the Wager published in 1768.
Although the binding was crumbling and had a library stamp on it (purloined or deaquisitioned?) the text block was sound. The vendor was asking €50 for it (locals are desperate for any foreign currency from visitors), which I paid without haggling.
On my return to Australia I had it rebound and that volume is featured below.
Note that the frontispiece and title page for Byron’s narrative of the Folio Society and the 250 year old edition are identical.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
In 1740, Admiral Anson set off from England with a fleet to harass the Spanish in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile. The HMS Wager was one of the supply ships for this expedition.
The initial captain of the Wager died during the Atlantic crossing and was replaced by a Captain Cheap. After passing through the Straits of Magellan, the Wager was wrecked on a desolate island (now known as Wager Island) off the southern coast of Chile. Captain Cheap was dictatorial, indecisive, sickly, narcissistic and temperamental. As a result, the marooned sailors broke up into different groups and went their own ways in attempts to reach England again without being captured by the Spanish.
Only two groups, one led by the gunner John Bulkeley, and the other by Captain Cheap, who was accompanied by the 16 year old John Byron (grandfather to the author Lord Byron), made it back to England.
This volume contains two books – the narratives of Bulkeley and Byron as they struggled back to England over several years – and a conclusion by Christopher Hibbert that wraps up the loose ends and closes the narratives.
The extreme difficulties both groups encountered in their travels, from starvation and assault by natives, to freezing conditions and appalling weather along with a description of the hunter-gatherer and brutal lifestyle of the local natives, make for fascinating reading about life nearly 300 years ago.
The 276 page book is introduced and edited by Christopher Hibbert, and contains eleven leaves of contemporary etchings, paintings and drawings. It is quarter bound in dark blue leather with pale blue paper boards printed with a repeat linocut pattern in black by Edward Bawden. The map endleaves are printed black on yellow. The page tops are stained cream and the plain cream slipcase measures 23.2x14.5cm.
………………………………………….
But that is not the end of the story of this book.
I bought the copy above second-hand in 2017 for A$10 (£5) and read it soon after purchase.
In 2018 I visited Cuba. Every Saturday in Havana there is an open-air book market where thousands of books are spread across makeshift tables in a square. Naturally I visited the market, but there was little of interest as virtually everything was in Spanish and most books were battered paperbacks.
As I passed one table, on seeing a foreigner the ancient man who owned it held up a book and repeatedly shouted “Libro muy antiguo, Ingleso” (very old book, English). Intrigued, I took a very battered volume from his hands and was amazed to find it was an edition of Byron’s narrative of the Wreck of the Wager published in 1768.
Although the binding was crumbling and had a library stamp on it (purloined or deaquisitioned?) the text block was sound. The vendor was asking €50 for it (locals are desperate for any foreign currency from visitors), which I paid without haggling.
On my return to Australia I had it rebound and that volume is featured below.
Note that the frontispiece and title page for Byron’s narrative of the Folio Society and the 250 year old edition are identical.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2jsg1976
>1 wcarter: what an incredible find! And a beautiful rebind to boot.
While not Folio, for anyone who can’t get your hands on an original 18th century printing, I would also highly recommend David Grann’s recent book, The Wager, which covers the same events (and I think has just been put out by Easton Press if you want something a little nicer than a trade edition)
While not Folio, for anyone who can’t get your hands on an original 18th century printing, I would also highly recommend David Grann’s recent book, The Wager, which covers the same events (and I think has just been put out by Easton Press if you want something a little nicer than a trade edition)
3ubiquitousuk
Great review and great story.
