First Edition hardcover in green cloth, with blindstamped decoration to front and rear and gilt titles to spine. Taped to the first page is a letter from the author, Hepworth Dixon, dated May 4, 1852; a reply to an enthusiastic reader, the letter begins: "Dear Madam, I am gratified at the terms in which you speak of my unworthy labour in connexion with Admiral Blake..." The name of the recipient is given at the bottom corner of the letter; frustratingly the handwriting is not quite clear here. There is a name "William Browne" and date 1852 on the next page, because of the date Browne was perhaps the first owner of the book, but Browne is definitely not the name of the recipient of the letter. The tape is much more recent than the letter, and so this particular copy may not be the one the recipient of the letter actually read. There is another consideration; this book was donated to us by modern descendants of Admiral Blake; it had obviously been in the family for generations, as the