The United States' Naval Chronicle, vol. 1

What it is

This is volume 1 of The United States' Naval Chronicle by Charles W. Goldsborough, printed by James Wilson and published in Washington City in 1824. The book documents the history of the United States Navy Department, concentrating on the period before the War of 1812. The copy in the library record is signed by William Bainbridge on its title page.

Why it matters

Books like this one were among the first attempts to record the history of the young American navy. Because it was printed while many naval officers of the Revolutionary era were still living, it shows how the navy's early story was being written. Jones is one of the naval figures this history covers.

Look closer

• Who wrote this history, and what might his connection to the navy have led him to emphasize?
• The copy was signed by William Bainbridge and once belonged to a doctor who wrote about him. What does this ownership suggest about how naval history was shared?
• What might a naval history from 1824 leave out about enslaved people or sailors who did not become officers?