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L. Frank Baum

Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea (1906) is a novel by L. Frank Baum. Although he is more widely known as the author of the Land of Oz series, Baum also used several pseudonyms to make forays into more conventional fiction for young adults. Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea, written under the pen name “Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald,” is a story of discovery, betrayal, fortune, and adventure. “An orphan, now, and alone in the world. This father whom the angry seas had engulfed was the only relative I had known since my sweet little mother wearied of the world and sought refuge in Heaven, years and years ago.” Having already lost his mother as a boy, sixteen year old Sam Steele faces tragedy once more. His father’s ship, the Saracen, was lost at sea near the Lucayan Archipelago, leaving just one sailor alive. All that remains of Captain Steele are his watch, his ring, and a son who never had the chance to say goodbye. Soon, Sam is cut off from his rightful inheritance by Mrs. Ranck, his guardian. Alone in the world, without a penny to his name, Sam reconnects with his maternal uncle Naboth, a sea captain preparing to sail from San Francisco to join the Klondike Gold Rush. Together, they journey into the vast Pacific, where fortune and danger await. While Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea is far from the fantasy and fairy tale style most of Baum’s readers adore him for, it remains an entertaining work of adventure fiction for devoted fans of the Oz series and newcomers alike. This edition of L. Frank Baum’s Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Mint Editions

Mint Editions—Nautical Narratives

Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea

Henry De Vere Stacpoole

The Beach of Dreams (1919) is a novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. Although he is more widely known for his novel The Blue Lagoon (1908), which inspired the 1980 hit drama starring Brooke Shields, Stacpoole was a prolific bestselling author whose dozens of literary works allow the reader to enter the world of nautical adventure. “It was as though deep in his being lay a blazing hatred born of injustice through ages and only coming to light when upborne by balloon-juice. On these occasions a saloon bar with its glitter and phantom show of mirth and prosperity sometimes called on him to dispense and destroy it, the passion to fight the crowd seized him, a passion that has its origin, perhaps, in sources other than alcohol.” In his youth, Henry De Vere Stacpoole sailed across the South Pacific as a ship’s doctor, gathering the raw imaginative materials that would inspire dozens of romance and adventure novels. In The Beach of Dreams, a yacht collides with a fishing vessel in the middle of the South Pacific, leaving few alive. The survivors—a rich woman and a pair of weathered sailors—attempt to survive on a nearby island, but soon the men prove impossible to trust. In her darkest hour, Cléo de Bromsart encounters Raft, a brash and brave fisherman with striking red hair and a hatred of injustice. Together, they form an alliance against the elements and await their day of rescue. This edition of Henry De Vere Stacpoole’s The Beach of Dreams is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Beach of Dreams

Hume Nisbet

The Jolly Roger: A Story of Sea Heroes and Pirates (1891) is a novel by Hume Nisbet. Published at the beginning of his career as a leading ghost story writer of the Victorian era, The Jolly Roger: A Story of Sea Heroes and Pirates is a tale of adventure inspired by the author’s travels in Papua New Guinea. Largely unknown by today’s audience, Hume Nisbet was a versatile writer whose experiences as an artist and traveler inform his wide-ranging body of work. From the mind of one of Victorian England’s finest popular fiction writers comes a tale of swashbuckling adventure set during the tumultuous reign of King James I. The story opens on the island of Laverne, a notorious pirate stronghold set in protective waters along the coast of South America. From there, a group of brave and impossibly bold pirates embarks on a journey in search of fortune across the Spanish Main. Along the way, they nearly succumb to the wiles of a thousand-year-old witch, perhaps the most memorable of Nisbet’s creations, but certainly not the most terrifying. With scant source material, the author summons an era of wonder and discovery for modern day readers, a feat which depends in no small part upon his own adventures on the islands of the South Sea. This edition of Hume Nisbet’s The Jolly Roger: A Story of Sea Heroes and Pirates is a classic of Victorian fiction reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Jolly Roger: A Story of Sea Heroes and Pirates

Joseph Conrad

The Children of the Sea (1897) is a novella by Joseph Conrad. The story originally appeared with a title featuring a racial slur, a subject of controversy even before Chinua Achebe published his monumental essay “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness.’” Often considered the first major work of Conrad’s career, The Children of the Sea is often read as an allegory on the dangers of individualism and the moral shortcomings of modern humanity. The novella is also notable for its preface, in which Conrad provides a brief-yet-stirring manifesto on the art of literature: “A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line.” On board the Narcissus, a merchant ship bound from Bombay to London, a West Indian man by the name of James Wait lies below deck suffering from tuberculosis. Because of the sudden onset of his illness, some of the sailors believe he is faking his condition in order to avoid work. When the ship capsizes in a storm near the Cape of Good Hope, a group of brave men goes below deck to rescue Wait from near-certain death. As the weather improves enough for the Narcissus to be righted, suspicion regarding the Afro-Caribbean man’s health threatens a mutiny among the crew. This edition of Joseph Conrad’s The Children of the Sea is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Children of the Sea

Frederick Marryat

Wreck of the Pacific (1841) is a novel by Frederick Marryat. Inspired by the author’s experience as a captain in the Royal Navy, Wreck of the Pacific is a tale of disaster and survival on the high seas. Responding to such novels as Robinson Crusoe (1719) and The Swiss Family Robinson (1812), Marryat hoped to tell an entertaining story with a Christian moral while remaining true to the dangers of nautical life. “I am an old man, and it is of little consequence. I care little whether I am taken away a year or two sooner, but I do not like to see blossoms cut off in early spring: I may be of use if I remain, for I’ve an old head upon my shoulders, and I could not leave you all to perish when you might be saved if you only knew how to act. But here the seamen come—the boat is all ready, and they will now take poor Captain Osborn with them.” When the Pacific sails through a terrible storm, losing its masts and captain in one fell swoop, its crew are forced to make difficult decisions. Below deck, the Seagrave family are virtually helpless, left to the mercy of men and nature alike. While the first mate and surviving sailors load most of the provisions onto the only remaining yawl, Masterman Ready remains behind with the terrified landlubbers, offering his services should they find a way to survive. Soon, the ship drifts toward the shores of a deserted island, giving them the chance they so desperately need to survive. This edition of Frederick Marryat’s Wreck of the Pacific is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Wreck of the Pacific

Peter Simple (1834) is a novel by Frederick Marryat. Inspired by the author’s experience as a captain in the Royal Navy, Peter Simple is a tale of bravery, foolishness, and the manifold reasons for men to take to the high seas. Frequently funny, often profound, Marryat’s novel is an underappreciated classic of nineteenth century fiction. “If I cannot narrate a life of adventurous and daring exploits, fortunately I have no heavy crimes to confess: and, if I do not rise in the estimation of the reader for acts of gallantry and devotion in my country’s cause, at least I may claim the merit of zealous and persevering continuance in my vocation.” Rejected by his aristocratic family, Peter Simple sets out to sea to prove himself as a midshipman in the Royal Navy. As he rises through the ranks with the help of a veteran sailor and makes a name for himself during the fierce fighting of the Napoleonic Wars, Peter discovers new depths to his fortitude and experiences things he would never have seen on land. Adapted for a 1957 BBC television series, Peter Simple is considered one of the most accurate portrayals of naval life during the Napoleonic era. This edition of Frederick Marryat’s Peter Simple is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Peter Simple

Percival Keene (1842) is a novel by Frederick Marryat. Inspired by the author’s experience as a captain in the Royal Navy, Percival Keene is a tale of bravery, identity, and the manifold reasons for men to take to the high seas. Frequently funny, often profound, Marryat’s novel is an underappreciated classic of nineteenth century fiction. “‘Dead! Well, fathers do die sometimes; you must get on how you can without one. I don’t think fathers are of much use, for, you see, mothers take care of you till you’re old enough to go to sea. My father did nothing for me, except to help mother to lick me, when I was obstropolous.’” Percival Keene is a troubled young man: raised by his mother and grandmother, he gains a reputation for troublemaking and disobedience early on. At school, he lashes out against bullying teacher Mr. O’Gallagher by adding poison to his sandwiches, knowing that the man will steal his lunch as usual. On Guy Fawkes Day, however, Percival finally crosses the line by setting off fireworks underneath O’Gallagher’s office, destroying the school and nearly killing the Irishman. Years later, having lost his chance at receiving an education, Percival enlists in the Royal Navy. While serving on the H.M. Calliope, he discovers that his father may not have been the marine Ben Keene, but rather his employer Captain Delmar. This edition of Frederick Marryat’s Percival Keene is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Percival Keene

Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836) is a novel by Frederick Marryat. Inspired by the author’s experience as a captain in the Royal Navy, Mr. Midshipman Easy is a tale of bravery, foolishness, and the manifold reasons for men to take to the high seas. Frequently funny, often profound, Marryat’s novel is an underappreciated classic of nineteenth century fiction that has been adapted twice for British cinema.

“‘Then, father, all I have to say is, that I swear by the rights of man I will not go back to school, and that I will go to sea. Who and what is to prevent me? Was not I born my own master?—has any one a right to dictate to me as if I were not his equal? Have I not as much right to my share of the sea as any other mortal? I stand upon perfect equality,’ continued Jack, stamping his right foot on the floor.” Fueled by his father’s philosophical ideas on liberty and equality, Jack Easy decides he will prove himself in a place where all men are equals. Despite his bravery, he soon finds that ideals will get one nowhere in the service of the Royal Navy. Working below deck with the African cook Mephistopheles Faust, Jack learns the secrets of the ship and encounters a lesson in discipline he will never forget. As he rises through the ranks and makes a name for himself during the fierce fighting of the Napoleonic Wars, Jack discovers new depths to his fortitude that would never have showed themselves had he stayed on land.

This edition of Frederick Marryat’s Mr. Midshipman Easy is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Mr. Midshipman Easy

The Phantom Ship (1839) is a novel by Frederick Marryat. Inspired by the legend of the Flying Dutchman, a fabled ghost ship doomed to sail the seas until the end of time, The Phantom Ship is a tale of adventure and Gothic horror from an author who served for decades in the British Royal Navy. Philip Vanderdecken had always feared this day would come. Raised by his mother in Terneuzen, he had grown accustomed to life without a father. During a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, the elder Vanderdecken condemned himself to an eternity at the helm of the Flying Dutchman, a legendary vessel doomed to sail the seas without ever touching land. Now a young man, Philip is informed by his dying mother of the possibility of saving his father by letting his spirit rest. Terrified, he promises his mother to carry a relic of the Holy Cross across the globe until he can find the Flying Dutchman. He joins the Dutch East India Company and sets out at once on an adventure filled with romance, magic, and unimaginable horror. Poorly reviewed upon publication, The Phantom Ship has endured as a cult classic and continues to be adored by generations of loyal readers. This edition of Frederick Marryat’s The Phantom Ship is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Phantom Ship

Victor Hugo

Toilers of the Sea (1866) is a novel by Victor Hugo. Written while Hugo was living in exile on the island of Guernsey, Toilers of the Sea is a story of adventure that expresses the everyday struggles of a fool in love while capturing the changes wrought by political and economic revolution in Europe. “Gilliatt lived in the parish of St. Sampson. He was not liked by his neighbours; and there were reasons for that fact.” Viewed as an outsider by the seafaring community of Guernsey, Gilliat lives alone in a house deemed haunted, though no one would dare visit him anyway. Despite his skill as a fisherman, the townspeople claim he is a malevolent sorcerer, all but condemning him to a life of total seclusion. In love with the niece of a prominent shipowner, he volunteers to salvage what he can from a vessel that was wrecked some distance from the coast. Braving the elements and coming face to face with a vicious octopus, Gilliatt seizes his only chance at escaping his lonely circumstances, at finding love at last. This edition of Victor Hugo’s Toilers of the Sea is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Toilers of the Sea

Morgan Robertson

Once a celebrated Naval officer, John Rowland has fallen from grace. After slipping into alcoholism, Roland is dismissed from the Navy and shamed. Having lost everything, Rowland now works as a deckhand on the Titan, operating deck machinery and keeping watch. However, Rowland is just as shocked and horrified as the civilian passengers when the mighty ocean liner collides with an iceberg, beginning the ship’s slow sink to ruin. As the Titan sinks, its passengers are frenzied, as they realize that there are not enough lifeboats for all of them. Amid the chaotic panic of the wreck, Rowland finds the young daughter of an ex-lover and is immediately drawn to protecting the child. Together, Rowland and the young girl fight for their survival, rushing to escape the ship and hoping to find a lifeboat. With their lives on the line, Rowland understands that this is his chance at redemption—if he can find a way to save them both. Filled with drama, suspense, action, and sentiment, The Wreck of the Titan by Morgan Robertson has remains to be engrossing and fascinating to modern readers. First published in 1898, The Wreck of the Titan has earned a place in pop culture with film, television, and literary allusions, and is often compared to the historic sinking of the Titanic. Since the Titanic wrecked over a decade after Robertson’s work was released, audiences have even suspected Robertson to be precognizant, though the author himself denied this and brushed off the similarities. This edition of The Wreck of the Titan by Morgan Robertson now features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition of The Wreck of the Titan crafts an accessible and pleasant reading experience for modern audiences while restoring the original mastery of Morgan Robertson’s work. 
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Wreck of the Titan

The Grain Ship (1914) is a collection of short stories by Morgan Roberston. Published a year before the author’s death, The Grain Ship compiles works of short fiction originally published in Harper’s Monthly, New Story Magazine, and The Sunday Magazine. The ten stories of The Grain Ship showcase Robertson’s skill for yarn-spinning while benefitting from his experience as a merchant sailor. Dining alone at an upscale restaurant, an old sailor overhears an intriguing conversation at the next table over. He listens as a retired sea captain discusses the discovery off the coast of Spain of a merchant ship abandoned and overrun with rats. Intrigued at first, the sailor soon remembers an encounter nearly three decades old. While making his way across Arizona as a cattle driver, thinking of nothing more than returning to sea, he meets a stranger in distress with a faded anchor tattooed on his arm. Taking him to his shelter, he realizes the stranger has lost his memory, that he has no idea of who or where he is. When a rat runs across the floor of the shelter, he suddenly remembers his experience on a grain ship bound from San Francisco, a disastrous voyage on which the whole crew—save for himself—disappeared. “The Grain Ship” is a tale of terror, illness, and doom on the high seas by an author whose experience as a sailor serves him well. Collected in this volume are nine more stories published during Morgan Robertson’s brief yet productive career as a professional writer, including “From the Darkness and the Depths,” “Noah’s Ark,” and “The Argonauts.” This edition of Morgan Robertson’s The Grain Ship is a classic work of American fiction reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Grain Ship

Jack London

The Sea-Wolf (1904) is an adventure novel by American writer Jack London. Inspired by his acquaintance Captain Alex MacLean, a sailor from the Pacific Northwest, London sought to write a novel of the high seas with psychological and philosophical underpinnings.

An intelligent scholar named Humphrey van Weyden boards a ferry in San Francisco. Lost in the fog, the Martinez collides with another ship, and van Weyden is tossed overboard. Afloat in the Bay, he is discovered and rescued by Wolf Larsen, a gruff captain of a seal-hunting vessel. Aboard the schooner Ghost, van Weyden finds himself conscripted as a cabin boy, and must quickly adjust to the rough nature of seafaring life while immuring himself to the rages and peculiarities of Larsen. When his disgruntled crew stages a mutiny in response to his abuses, the savvy and powerful captain overwhelms them, and van Weyden, now known as Hump, is promoted to mate. With a depleted crew, the Ghost continues on through the hunting season, but its troubles are far from over. The Sea-Wolf is a story set in some of Earth’s harshest environments that brings two men from opposite positions in life together with one goal in mind: survival.

This edition of Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Sea-Wolf

Lewis R. Freeman

In 1925, Lewis R Freeman became a correspondent for the United States Navy Fleet, living and working among them. Traveling all around the Pacific Ocean, Freeman observed both the environment and his fellow travelers. Separated into three sections, Stories of the Ships is a collection of narratives about this time in Freeman’s life, depicting firsthand experiences and retelling the accounts and tales of the men that served in the Navy around this time. The first section, titled, Stories of the Ships introduces Freeman’s background as a correspondent and discusses the temperament of the sailors. This section also includes the tale of an old ship that sailed through most of the seven seas—the Cornwall. The next section, Life in the Fleet chronicles Freeman’s day-to-day adventures, explaining his routines, responsibilities, and revealing his conversations with the crew members and captains. With nine chapters, this section contains the most stories and is the largest section of the book. Finally, the last section before the endnotes, America Arrives, examines the relationship between America and other countries such as France and Britain through the conversations and attitudes of the sailors from those other countries. Freeman recounts several discussions where he was referred to being unlike other Americans. With these three sections and the endnotes, Stories of the Ships provides a thorough account of the many years Lewis R. Freeman spent as a correspondent. 

Through the depiction of real-life conversations and experiences collected around the globe, Stories of the Ships by Lewis R. Freeman is a fascinating narrative that gives modern day audiences an intimate and authentic perspective on nautical life. With the focus on the United States Navy Fleet, Freeman provides privileged information on the innerworkings of the U.S Navy during the 20th century. 

This edition of Stories of the Ships by Lewis R. Freeman features a striking new cover design and is printed in a modern and readable font. With these accommodations, Stories of the Ships is restored to modern standards, while preserving the original mastery of Lewis R. Freeman. 
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Stories of the Ships

Featuring eight works of short fiction, South Sea Tales by Jack London is an adventurous collection with a nautical theme. With settings on islands or ships, South Sea Tales tell the exciting, but often heartbreaking tales of violence, colonialism, and racism. The House of Mapuhi follows the son of a trading magnate, who travels from island to island buying valuable items for his mother’s business. When he learns of a brilliant pearl owned by one of the locals on the island of Hikueru, he becomes obsessed with obtaining it. London mocks Christian martyrdom in The Whale Tooth, a story of a man falling victim to his own impulses and inflated self-importance, consequently leading to cannibalism and murder. Yah! Yah! Yah! explores colonial brutality and race relations in the South Sea with a sympathetic portrayal of the native islanders. Further examining these themes, Mauki follows the son of a chief who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Hailed as a fan favorite, The Seed of McCoy depicts a story about sailing the seas with a twist. Finally, with a touching lesson of tolerance, The Heathen portrays two men from different racial backgrounds, Otoo and Charley, as they stay loyal to each other while they fight to survive a brutal shipwreck. 

 With bold and unique characters, thrilling settings, and thought-provoking themes, South Sea Tales by Jack London is sure to captivate readers. Inspired by London’s own adventures in the South Sea, South Sea Tales brings an authentic and memorable setting for stories that possess in-depth and compelling prose. Jack London’s well-known style of descriptive, visceral prose shines in this classic collection, creating works with intense adventure and an interesting depiction of the early 20th century. 

With a striking new cover design and a modern and readable font, this edition of South Sea Tales by Jack London is catered to a contemporary audience. With these accommodations, modern readers can now enjoy the strong prose of Jack London, examine the culture of 20th century colonialism, and explore the islands of the southern Pacific with ease. 
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

South Sea Tales

Herman Melville

White-Jacket (1850) is an adventure novel by American writer Herman Melville. Based on the author’s personal experience as a seaman in the United States Navy—Melville spent fourteen months aboard the USS United States—the novel was both commercially successful and influential for reforming US Naval policy. Following its publication, and aided by advocacy from journalists and politicians, flogging was banned as a punishment in the navy. The novel is seen as a precursor to Melville’s masterpiece, Moby-Dick (1851), and is often compared to his posthumous novella Billy Budd (1924).

White-Jacket is the name given to the novel’s protagonist, a young seaman who embarks on the USS Neversink hoping for brotherhood and adventure. As he grows accustomed to the duties and indignities of naval life, he becomes the target of ire for most of the crew and officers. His jacket, the only one of its kind on board, not only causes him to stand out, but is a source of constant danger—insufficient for the cold weather around Cape Horn, difficult to discern from the color of the Neversink’s sails, the jacket both defines and dooms the novel’s hero. Praised for its adventurous narrative and political message, White-Jacket was a critical and commercial success for Melville, enabling him to compose and publish Moby-Dick, an ambitious and complex novel now recognized as among the greatest works of American literature.

This edition of Herman Melville’s White-Jacket is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

White-Jacket

A new captain must lead his crew to safety and face his own internal struggles as he works to overcome disrespect, insanity, and coming-of-age all while sailing on an unforgiving sea. 

There is an invisible line that divides life into a before and after—adolescence and adulthood. The unnamed narrator of The Shadow Line is painfully aware of this, but is unsure where the line lies in his life. He recalls a number of rash decisions he has made, some more recent than others. Soon after he impulsively quits his comfortable job as a shipmate, the narrator meets two men who each test him in different ways. Captain Giles, a wise, patient man, tries to be a positive influence on the narrator. Hamilton, a snobby man with a sour attitude, is able to invoke anger as if he were trying to win an Olympic medal for it. This ignites the narrator’s poor relationship with irritation, as he has the tendency to lash out with hostility at even mild annoyances. Consequently. The narrator gets into pointless feuds. When he is offered a new job as a captain, controlling a ship and crew, Giles attempts to guide him and nurture the admirable and necessary qualities of a leader, including encouraging the narrator to manage his anger. However, once the narrator boards his new ship, and meets his new crew, including the previous captain, the lessons he learned from Giles are immediately challenged. Now, facing disrespect, heightened responsibility, and the perils of the sea, all with his pride at stake, the narrator must navigate where he stands in relation to his own shadow line, and whether he will keep the habits of his youth, or grow into the man he needs to be. 

 The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad explores important and relatable themes of the internal conflicts everyone must confront as they age. Drawn from his own life experience, Conrad depicts the sea setting with vivid imagery and unmatched detail. With mysterious and complex characters, The Shadow Line depicts the universal struggles of the transition between life’s phases set to an intriguing and thrilling setting. 

Joseph Conrad’s The Shadow Line is now available with a new, eye-catching cover design and is reprinted in a modern font, creating an approachable reading experience for a contemporary audience.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Shadow-Line

Ishmael finds himself on a sprawling, epic hunt for the great white whale in one of the most singular and celebrated novels in American literature.

First published in 1851, Moby Dick is narrated by the young seaman Ishmael who takes ship on the whaler Pequod, under the command of Captain Ahab. Once at sea Ahab reveals that their voyage is not aimed at profitable whaling so much as pure vengeance as they are to hunt the white whale that maimed him, leaving him with a single leg. A rich array of memorable characters are introduced as the Pequod sails the sea, encountering other whalers, hunting whales and seeking Moby Dick. Sprawling and discursive, luxuriant and richly textured, Melville’s novel is almost a world unto itself. Life aboard ship, friendships between the diverse collection of sailors and the hazardous adventure of confronting whales on the open sea are captured unforgettably, but all of this is under the shadow of Ahab’s all-consuming hatred of the white whale. As the ship draws nearer to confrontation with her captain’s nemesis, the novel moves toward a devastating climax. Initially greeted with little enthusiasm by American critics, a notable exception being Nathaniel Hawthorne, Moby Dick has since come to be seen as one of the greatest achievements of American fiction and a classic for the ages.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Moby Dick is both modern and readable.
 
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Moby Dick

The Heart of Darkness is a powerful examination of the savage nature of western imperialism in the late 1890s. With stunning relevance to the politics and tribulations of today’s society, Joseph Conrad’s celebrated novel is just as important today as when it was initially published.
The story follows a young man named Charles Marlow. Soon after Marlow joins the Company as captain of a riverboat for a Belgian group organized to trade with the Congo, he uncovers is a fate worse than any life he could have imagined in London. Throughout the journey, Captain Marlow cannot turn away from the stark injustices and atrocious crimes being committed by the company he works for. Reflecting many of the experiences Conrad himself endured, The Heart of Darkness spares no mercy when retelling the many atrocities committed by imperial commanders; because of this, the story has long been considered required reading for all those seeking to better understand the true nature of colonialism. Told from the gaze of an employee privy to the conquest of the colonialist venture, Marlow’s experiences are considered exemplary of the brutal nature of human exploitation.
 

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

 

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Mint Editions—Nautical Narratives - The book series

Mint Editions—Nautical Narratives - The book series

Mint Editions—Nautical Narratives books in order

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