The H.W. McCurdy marine history of the Pacific Northwest
"The original Marine History of the Pacific Northwest was written by E. W. Wright, a river steamboat man, newspaper writer and editor and organizer of the Merchants' Exchange of Portland, and published in 1895 by Lewis & Dryden Printing Co. of Portland. The book was what is known in trade jargon as a 'puff publication'...that is, the individuals and firms engaged in the maritime industry of the period were asked to contribute financially to the publication, and the amount of space devoted to each was determined somewhat by the amount of contribution made. Despite the obvious handicaps involved in such a method of publication, Mr. Wright produced an historical classic which has served as the basic reference source on the maritime history of the region. Its almost 500 pages cover the earliest explorers and fur traders and progress chronologically to the early events of the year 1895. Many of the pioneer shipping men of the Northwest were still living when the work was in preparation, and Mr. Wright spent years gathering and preserving their personal recollections. For probably the last thirty years, persons interested in regional maritime history have considered the desirability of a companion volume to record the later events of significance in the marine development of the region. Unfortunately, the original publication, completed in a year of widespread financial hardship, bankrupted Lewis & Dryden. A New York firm which in recent years republished the original volume also went out of business shortly thereafter. Each year the scope and cost of such a project increased until it became obvious that it would involve a major expenditure of time and money and the interest of a publisher willing to hazard the cost of a dozen ordinary trade books on a single volume of obviously limited circulation. Early in 1963 Mr. H. W. McCurdy, a leading shipbuilder and distinguished marine historian of the Pacific Northwest, made available to the Seattle Historical Society a fund to provide for the research and writing of the new Marine History. Mr. Albert P. Salisbury, head of the Superior Publishing Co., a Seattle firm which has gained international recognition for its production of high quality books on Western Americana, agreed to undertake the costs of publication and sales. A panel of authorities including some of the best known marine historians in the United States and Canada agreed to form a volunteer editorial board to insure the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the work. The entire manuscript of well over a million words has twice been submitted to this board for criticism and comment, and twice rewritten to incorporate the suggestions of its members. The result has been the H. W. Mc Curdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, a companion volume to Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Northwest. It is the hope of all involved in its production that it will stand the test of time as well as has the original. Finally, there seems no better way to close this preface than with the words written seventy years ago by Mr. E. W. Wright: 'The kindly assistance and co-operation of hundreds of marine men in the Northwest has rendered the production of so extensive a review possible, and, as a work of their own creation, it is herewith submitted.'"--Preface
Print Book, English, 1966
Superior Pub. Co., Seattle, 1966