Recent purchase, this undated volume comes with a dandy slip cover, but its best feature is the leather cover. The case has saved the leather from the ravages of time.
On the inside cover is a book plate: John Henderson Talley There are several John Henderson Talleys in the google search, but we choose this one. Its just a nature of the human race that we are all related eventually and so it is with this John Henderson Talley, as the editor traces his descent from Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven as did JHT.
Chapter 35 The Mast-Head
Let me make a clean breast of it here, and frankly admit that I kept but sorry guard. With the problem of the universe revolving in me, how could I—being left completely to myself at such a thought-engendering altitude,—how could I but lightly hold my obligations to observe all whale-ships' standing orders, "Keep your weather eye open, and sing out every time.".
Sometimes when we are confronted with the challenges of daily life, we lose sight of the bigger picture, and sometimes when we are focused on the bigger picture we lose sight of the daily challenges. Ishmel, to his credit admits that standing on the mast head contemplating the big cosmos, Karl Sagen style, he lost interest in scanning the horizon. We too, while contemplating the bigger picture of our interpersonal life have seemingly lost sight of that life which is right in front of us. Time to put down the spy glass and to stop looking at the far off stars.
