Blue cloth binding with black title on the spine.

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Please view our photographs. Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific is a Robinsonade children’s novel published in 1841 by Frederick Marryat. The book follows the adventures of the Seagrave family who are shipwrecked at sea, and survive on a desert island with the assistance of veteran sailor Masterman Ready. The Seagrave family are returning to New South Wales on board the Pacific when a storm strikes, wrecking the ship. The crew escape in a lifeboat leaving the passengers to their fate. The Seagrave family, together with their young black female servant Juno, and the veteran sailor Masterman Ready, are shipwrecked on a desert island. The family learn to survive many obstacles, helped by Ready’s long experience of life as a seaman. The worse threat comes when a tribe of natives attacks the party, resulting in the death of Ready. Rescue comes when the captain of the Pacific, who the family thought had died in the storm, arrives in a schooner.

Themes: Masterman Ready was one of the first historical adventures written for young readers. It was written in response to the 1812 book The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss. As a sailor of long experience, Marryat was annoyed that Wyss had portrayed being shipwrecked as a romantic adventure and he disapproved of the ignorance regarding flora and fauna displayed by Wyss.vThe Seagrave family in Marryat’s novel have to overcome many hazards, beginning with the initial storm which wrecks the ship and injures the passengers. The book throughout has a strong moral and pious tone. It contains many long reminiscences of Ready’s life at sea, in which thanks is given to God, and of the comfort to be found in the Bible. Likewise the family learn lessons on natural history and discover evidence for God’s benevolence everywhere.For many years Masterman Ready was one of the most popular adventure stories for children. It was ranked alongside The Children of the New Forest as the best of Marryat’s books for children and it was at one time thought Masterman Ready would “always be the more popular of the two, from the never-ceasing attractiveness of its subject matter.” The book is now less popular than it once was, partly because moral lessons constantly intrude on the action.

This listing describes a vintage 1937 edition of Captain Frederick Marryat’s classic children’s adventure novel, “Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific”. Originally published in 1841, this specific printing was issued by the prestigious Oxford University Press. 

Book Overview

• Author: Captain Frederick Marryat, a celebrated British Royal Navy officer and early pioneer of maritime fiction.
• Plot: A classic “robinsonade” written as a more realistic response to The Swiss Family Robinson. It follows the Seagrave family as they survive a shipwreck on a desert island, guided by the wisdom and maritime expertise of the seasoned sailor, Masterman Ready.
• Physical Format: This is a compact, pocket-sized hardcover format measuring approximately 4.8 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches. 

Understanding the “Good” Condition Rating

An approximate market value for your 1937 Oxford University Press edition of Masterman Ready in Good condition sits between £15 and £30

The primary factors dictating this price range include:

• The Edition: While Oxford University Press produces highly collectible, quality books, this is a mid-20th-century reprint rather than the true 1841 three-volume first edition (which commands £280 to £600+). 
• Condition: A “Good” rating means the book is structurally sound but shows its age (shelf wear, slight fading, or foxing to the pages).

NOTE 1: This listing describes a vintage 1937 edition of Captain Frederick Marryat’s classic children’s adventure novel, “Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific”. Originally published in 1841, this specific printing was issued by the prestigious Oxford University Press. 

Book Overview

• Author: Captain Frederick Marryat, a celebrated British Royal Navy officer and early pioneer of maritime fiction.
• Plot: A classic “robinsonade” written as a more realistic response to The Swiss Family Robinson. It follows the Seagrave family as they survive a shipwreck on a desert island, guided by the wisdom and maritime expertise of the seasoned sailor, Masterman Ready.
• Physical Format: This is a compact, pocket-sized hardcover format measuring approximately 4.8 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches. 

• Previous Ownership: There may be old pencil inscriptions, gift bookplates, or small tears at the margins of frequently turned pages. 

• Market Demand: While Masterman Ready was wildly popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, modern reader demand for Captain Marryat’s works has declined. It is mostly sought after today by niche collectors of maritime fiction or traditional children’s “robinsonade” survival stories. 

NOTE 2: Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer and novelist. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel Mr Midshipman Easy (1836). He is remembered also for his children’s novel The Children of the New Forest (1847). In addition, he developed a widely used system of maritime flag signalling, known as Marryat’s Code.

Early life and naval career: Marryat was born at Great George Street in Westminster, London. His father was Joseph Marryat, a “merchant prince” of Huguenot descent and member of Parliament, as well as slave owner and anti-abolitionist, and his American mother was Charlotte, née von Geyer, of Boston. As a youth, Marryat tried to run away to sea several times before he was permitted to enter the Royal Navy in 1806 as a midshipman aboard HMS Imperieuse, a frigate commanded by Lord Cochrane, who later served as inspiration for Marryat and other authors.

Marryat’s time aboard the Imperieuse included action off the Gironde, the rescue of a fellow midshipman who had fallen overboard, captures of many ships off the Mediterranean coast of Spain, and capture of the castle of Montgat. The Imperieuse shifted to operations in the Scheldt in 1809, where Marryat contracted malaria; he returned to England on the 74-gun HMS Victorious. After recuperating, he returned to the Mediterranean in the 74-gun HMS Centaur and again saved a shipmate by leaping into the sea after him. He sailed as a passenger to Bermuda in the 64-gun HMS Atlas, and from there to Halifax, Nova Scotia on the schooner HMS Chubb, where he joined the 32-gun frigate HMS Aeolus on 27 April 1811. A few months later, Marryat earned distinction again by leading the effort to cut away the Aeolus‘s mainyard to save the ship during a storm. He saved one of the crew from the sea. Shortly after, he moved to the frigate HMS Spartan, participating in the capture of a number of American ships during the War of 1812. On 26 December 1812, he was promoted to lieutenant, and as such served in the sloop HMS Espiegle and in HMS Newcastle. Marryat led four barges from the Newcastle on a raid against Orleans, Massachusetts on 19 December 1814, the last combat in New England during the war. Though initially, Marryat cut out an American schooner and three sloops, he managed to escape with just one sloop. The local militia avoided casualties while killing one Royal marine. Marryat was promoted to commander on 13 June 1815, just as the war ended. Marryat turned to scientific studies after the war. He invented a lifeboat, which earned him a gold medal from the Royal Humane Society and the nickname “Lifeboat”. He developed a practical, widely used system of maritime flag signalling, known as Marryat’s Code, based on his experience in the Napoleonic Wars escorting merchant ships in convoys. He also described a new gastropod genus Cyclostrema with the type species Cyclostrema cancellatum.

In 1820, Marryat commanded the sloop HMS Beaver and temporarily commanded HMS Rosario in order to carry despatches to England announcing the death of Napoleon on Saint Helena. He also took the opportunity to make a sketch of Napoleon’s body on his deathbed; this was later published as a lithograph. His artistic skills were modest, but he made numerous sketches of shipboard life above and below deck.

In 1823, Marryat was appointed to HMS Larne and took part in an expedition against Burma in 1824, which resulted in large losses from disease. He was promoted to command the 28-gun HMS Tees, which gave him the rank of post-captain. By 1826 he was back in England and that year donated two Burmese artifacts to the British Museum, in an unsuccessful effort to be selected as a trustee. In 1829, he was commanding the frigate HMS Ariadne on a search for shoals around the Madeira and Canary Islands. This was an uninspiring exercise. As his first novel The Naval Officer had just been published, he decided to resign his commission in November 1830 and take up writing full-time.

Literary career: From 1832 to 1835, Marryat edited The Metropolitan Magazine. Additionally, he kept writing novels; his biggest success came with Mr Midshipman Easy in 1836. He lived in Brussels for a year, travelled in Canada and the United States, and moved to London in 1839, where he was in the literary circle of Charles Dickens and others. He was in North America in 1837 when rebellion broke out in Lower Canada, and served with the expeditionary force sent to suppress it.

Marryat was named a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his lifeboat, signals system and other achievements. In 1843, he moved to a farm at Manor Cottage, Langham in Norfolk. He died there in 1848. His daughter Florence Marryat later became known as a writer and actress. His son Francis Samuel Marryat completed his father’s last novel, The Little Savage.

Marryat’s novels are typical of their time, with concerns of family connections and social status often overshadowing the naval action. He based much of his fiction on his 25 years’ experience at sea. Among those who admired his works were Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, and Ernest Hemingway. As the first nautical novels, they served as models for 20th century works by C. S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian. These also were set in the time of Nelson and told of young men rising through the ranks due to their successes as naval officers.

Marryat was also known for short writings on nautical subjects. These short stories, plays, pieces of travel journalism, and essays were published in The Metropolitan Magazine, and many were later collected in book form as Olla Podrida.

Marryat’s 1839 Gothic novel The Phantom Ship contained “The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains”. This featured the first female werewolf to appear in a short story.

In 1839, Marryat also published his Diary in America, a travelogue that reflects his criticisms of American culture and society. The book and the author were both subject to acts of violence. The book and Marryat’s effigy were each burned in public.

Controversy arose among Marryat’s readers. Some criticized him for careless writing, others admired his vivacity about life at sea. His later novels were generally for the children’s market, including his most famous novel today: The Children of the New Forest, published in 1847 and set in the countryside around the village of Sway, Hampshire.

The works of Marryat are considered by the maritime historians of today to be a reliable source on the operation and characteristics of the sailing vessels of his time.

Marriage and family: On 21 January 1819, Marryat married Catherine Shairp. They had four sons and seven daughters together, of whom eight survived infancy. These included Florence, a prolific novelist; Emilia, who became a writer of moralist adventure novels in her father’s vein and wrote a biography of him; Augusta, who also wrote adventure fiction; and Frank, a naval officer and author.

Marryat’s niece Augusta Sophia Marryat married Henry Young, who served as Governor of South Australia and Tasmania. A suburb of Adelaide, called Marryatville, and the town of Port Augusta were named after her.