Forester, Captain Horatio Hornblower, 3 Novels 1939 ill

"Captain Horatio Hornblower", by C.S. Forester, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, published by Little Brown & Company, Boston, 1939, stated second printing of September 1939, [1st printing was issued in June].

Contents:

Beat to Quarters
Ship of The Line
Flying Colours.

Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Napoleonic Wars-era Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C.S. Forester. He was later the subject of films, radio and television programs, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated a definitive biography.

The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel "The Happy Return" (U.S. title "Beat to Quarters") with the appearance of a junior Royal Navy captain on independent duty on a secret mission to Central America. Later stories filled out his earlier years, starting with an unpromising beginning as a seasick midshipman. As the Napoleonic Wars progress, he gains promotion steadily as a result of his skill and daring, despite his initial poverty and lack of influential friends. After surviving many adventures in a wide variety of locales, he rises to the pinnacle of his profession, promoted to Admiral of the Fleet.

There are many parallels between Hornblower and real naval officers of the period, notably Admiral Lord Nelson and Sir George Cockburn, Lord Cochrane, Sir Edward Pellew, Jeremiah Coghlan, Sir James Gordon, Sir William Hoste, and many others. The actions of the Royal Navy at the time, documented in official reports, gave much material for Hornblower's fictional adventures

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) --------- $8.50
Canada: Priority (c 2-7 weeks) --- $27.50
World: Priority (c 2-8 weeks) ---- $37.50
Condition Report: Hard boards, original publisher's cloth [some wear, soiling, small cloth damage between the front board and spine [see photos]; 5.3/4" x 8.1/2"; 662 pages, color frontispiece and a three b/w drawings by Wyeth, some soiling, good to very good condition.