The Bird of Dawning
About the book
The Bird of Dawning: The Fortune of the Sea
by John Masefield
The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, is a treasure trove of accounts recording seafaring lives and stories. This series of new editions draws on the riches of this collection and casts the net wider to bring to light such gripping tales as The Bird of Dawning.
An 1860s tea-race is the setting for John Masefield's gripping story of 16 men's fight for survival in the Atlantic ocean. Narrowly escaping death when their ship the Blackgauntlet sinks, the crew face a terrifying journey in which survival is all they dare hope for. Cruiser, the ship's second mate, takes command. His abilities are tested to the limit – but even he cannot fathom how the crisis might end.
A runaway success when it was first published in 1933, The Bird of Dawning is a seafaring classic. A brief introduction by Dr. Philip W. Errington, Deputy Director at the Department of Printed Books and Manuscripts, Sotheby's and Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of English, University College, London, places the novel in the context of Masefield's work and life, and examines his place in English literature.
About the author
John Masefield (1878-1967) was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death. He is perhaps best known for his poem Sea Fever and the children's classic The Box of Delights.
Dr Philip W. Errington is Deputy Director at the Department of Printed Books and Manuscripts, Sotheby's and Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of English, University College, London. Dr Errington has published widely on John Masefield including a bibliography (British Library, 2004) and an edition of Selected Poems (Carcanet, 2005). He is currently working on a new volume for Penguin Classics.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Further Reading
The Bird of Dawning
Glossary