A classic tale of seafaring, shipwreck, and survival, reprinted from Wesleyan University Press's 1978 facsimile of the original.
When artist, illustrator, writer, and adventurer Rockwell Kent first published N by E in a limited edition in 1930, his account of a voyage on a 33-foot cutter from New York Harbor to the rugged shores of Greenland quickly became a collectors' item. Little wonder, for readers are immediately drawn to Kent's vivid descriptions of the experience; we share "the feeling of wind and wet and cold, of lifting seas and steep descents, of rolling over as the wind gusts hit," and the sound "of wind in the shrouds, of hard spray flung on a drum-tight canvas, of rushing water at the scuppers, of the gale shearing a tormented sea."
When the ship sinks in a storm-swept fjord within 50 miles of its destination, the story turns to the stranding and subsequent rescue of the three-man crew, salvage of the vessel, and life among native Greenlanders. Magnificently illustrated by Kent's wood-block prints and narrated in his poetic and highly entertaining style, this tale of the perils of killer nor'easters, treacherous icebergs, and impenetrable fog -- and the joys of sperm whales breaching or dawn unmasking a longed-for landfall -- is a rare treat for old salts and landlubbers alike.
Industry Reviews
"Twenty-nine years after his death, �Rockwell� Kent has returned with a vengeance. Not since the height of his pre-McCarthyism popularity has so much of his work been available to the public." --Smithsonian Smithsonian" New York Times Book Review" San Francisco Chronicle" Houston Post" "Twenty-nine years after his death, [Rockwell] Kent has returned with a vengeance. Not since the height of his pre-McCarthyism popularity has so much of his work been available to the public."--Scott Ferris "Smithsonian" "Kent was a superb, romantic, stylized illustrator and designer . . . New collectors of Rockwell Kent's work, as well as those nostalgic for their lost or stolen copy of N by E, will be delighted with this representation of his art . . . It is still impressive."--Scott Ferris "New York Times Book Review" "Rockwell Kent was something of a modern-day Renaissance man. He was a major painter and illustrator, a writer of some note. He was proficient as well in lithography, farming, poetry, architecture and indeed the raising of Great Danes . . . [N by E is] a beautiful book featuring Kent's stark woodblock prints . . . the whole thing [is] a treasure."--Scott Ferris "San Francisco Chronicle" "A classic among sailing stories . . . His account of life among the rugged seafarers in those sections of the North Atlantic and of coping with hostile weather conditions is some of the best sailing reading available . . . N by E is made all the more enjoyable by more than a hundred of his famous woodblock prints, illustrating in bold detail his masterful account of a true adventure."--Scott Ferris "Houston Post" A classic among sailing stories . . . His account of life among the rugged seafarers in those sections of the North Atlantic and of coping with hostile weather conditions is some of the best sailing reading available . . . N by E is made all the more enjoyable by more than a hundred of his famous woodblock prints, illustrating in bold detail his masterful account of a true adventure. Houston Post" Rockwell Kent was something of a modern-day Renaissance man. He was a major painter and illustrator, a writer of some note. He was proficient as well in lithography, farming, poetry, architecture and indeed the raising of Great Danes . . . [N by E is] a beautiful book featuring Kent's stark woodblock prints . . . the whole thing [is] a treasure. San Francisco Chronicle" Kent was a superb, romantic, stylized illustrator and designer . . . New collectors of Rockwell Kent's work, as well as those nostalgic for their lost or stolen copy of N by E, will be delighted with this representation of his art . . . It is still impressive. New York Times Book Review" Twenty-nine years after his death, [Rockwell] Kent has returned with a vengeance. Not since the height of his pre-McCarthyism popularity has so much of his work been available to the public. Scott Ferris, Smithsonian"
