20–11150
“‘The passage of the barque Sappho’ portrays in minute detail the voyage of a sailing vessel from San Francisco around Cape Horn, homeward bound, to a British port. The author, J. E. Patterson, died before the book was published, and it was prepared for the press by his friend, C. E. Lawrence, who contributes a foreword. The narrative purports to be the work of two individuals, and is told in the first person. The joint contributions come from the two extremes of sea society—the cabin and the fo’castle. One is an officer and the other an ordinary seaman. When events are witnessed by both, it is from different points of view. The officer and sailor write alternately, and describe in detail all that went on above deck and in the forecastle during the long voyage. The story ends with shipwreck in the Sargasso sea.”—Springf’d Republican
Ath p930 S 19 ’19 80w
“The style of the story, in so far as it may be detached from its substance, is (but for certain passages of description) homely enough, lacking in the ordinary ‘literary’ graces; but this in the end appears to be a part of virtue. Beside Conrad and Bullen my copy shall take its place with confidence.” H. W. Boynton
+ Bookm 51:79 Mr ’20 700w
“The book has a historical as well as a literary value. Mr Patterson proves by this posthumous novel his understanding of character as well as his ability to write an impressive description. Each officer and man of the Sappho is a distinct individual possessed of his own little traits and peculiarities—traits and peculiarities which the author’s leisurely method enables him fully to illustrate.”
+ N Y Times 24:767 D 21 ’19 650w
“Quite at variance with the usual nautical romance, the chronicle is free from intrigues and brutality. The book is rather long (and expensive) and is likely to prove a bit tiring to all save those interested in the subject of seafaring.”
+ − Springf’d Republican p11a Mr 28 ’20 420w + − The Times [London] Lit Sup p498 S 18 ’19 380w