Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Two Years Before the Mast & Other Voyages The Library of America 1st Printing 2005 w/Slipcase New Suffering from persistent weakness in his eyes, Dana left Harvard at age 19 and sailed from Boston in 1834 as a common seaman. Two Years Before the Mast (1840) is the classic account of his voyages around Cape Horn and time ashore in California in the decade before the Gold Rush. Written with an unprecedented realism that challenged the romanticism of previous maritime literature, Dana’s narrative vividly portrays the daily routines and hardships of life at sea, the capriciousness and brutality of merchant ship captains and officers, and the beauty and danger of the southern oceans in winter. #richardhenrydanajr#twoyearsbeforethemast#TheLibraryofAmerica#vintagebooks#bookstore