Beesley, Lawrence “The Loss of the SS. Titanic” [Houghton Mifflin, 1912] First Edition

BEESLEY, Lawrence. The Loss of the SS. Titanic: Its Story and Its Lessons.

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912. First edition, first printing, with "Published June 1912" on copyright page. Publisher's original blue cloth with gilt lettering and decorative border to front board, gilt titles to spine. Illustrated with photographic plates and folding diagrams, including plans of the Titanic's decks and a longitudinal section of the ship. Owner's name on front free endpaper. Spine very slightly cocked, with rubbing to board edges and scattered marks to cloth. Pages toned, with occasional spotting to preliminary leaves and light staining to one internal page. Binding secure. Very Good.

One of the earliest firsthand accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, published just two months after the disaster of April 15, 1912. Lawrence Beesley (1877–1967), an English schoolteacher traveling as a second-class passenger, survived aboard lifeboat No. 13. His account describes life aboard the ship, the collision with the iceberg, the evacuation, and the rescue of survivors by the Carpathia. Beyond recounting his own experiences, Beesley examines the circumstances surrounding the disaster and proposes improvements to maritime safety, particularly concerning lifeboat capacity and emergency procedures. Published while the tragedy remained fresh in public memory, the book became an important contemporary record of the sinking and remains a significant primary source for Titanic historians and collectors.