Lot 438

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Description:

SEA DRAGON EXPEDITION
RICHARD HALLIBURTON (1900 - 1939) American explorer and writer, lost at sea in a typhoon while sailing a junk to San Francisco. Fine and scarce archive of four signed mimeographed T.L.S's, legal folio, approx. 20pp. total, written from Nov. 1938 - March 1939, all to journalist and Halliburton's secretary Paul Mooney and accompanied by the original cacheted transmittal envelopes, documenting the ill-fated Sea Dragon expedition. Released by subscription, the letters from the Sea Dragon and offer eye-witness reports of the expanding Japanese presence in the Pacific. In the first, penned Nov. 20, 1938 from Shanghai, Halliburton explains in great detail the purpose of the trip and how he would chart his course. He goes on to cite the seaworthiness of the vessel and the fact that other junks have made the trip with little or no difficulty. Towards the conclusion he reports some interesting war-news from Japan: "...We tarried in Japan long enough to see the Japanese naval authorities. Japan has blockaded all the Chinese port cities, and has sunk thousands of junks along the coast. We hope the Japanese torpedo boats will make an exception of us. For our protection we plan to carry three oversize American flags...the Japanese Government has decreed that the people must cheer more loudly for Japan's alliance with Italy and Hitler...In America we take the Japanese - German - Italian alliance very lightly...The average Japanese fully believes that when Italy and Germany go to war with France and England, Japan will seize Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, and take the Philippines and French Indo-China in stride...". On January 18, 1939, he writes from Hong Kong that he is almost ready to sail, describing at length the refitting of his vessel. He is excited when he is visited by twelve Royal Air Force Officers and adds: "...American warships are in the harbor, and many of their men have come to wish us a good voyage...". On January 27, 1939, Halliburton describes from Canton the vessel being subjected to every possible strain: "...The rigging creaked, the timbers groaned...but the ship responded sensitively to the rudder...though she was slower than we hoped... [On the fall of Canton] For weeks before the final capture, Japanese airlines had methodically bombed, trying to destroy the railroad stations and freight yards. Over 10,000 civilians were slaughtered. Whole blocks of buildings were leveled...On Monday Canton had been one of the busiest cities in the world...but over one-million civilians left. On Wednesday, only a few homeless dogs and blind beggars remained. In the midst of the chaos, the Chinese began dynamiting their own ammunition dumps. When the Japanese at last occupied Canton, they came into possession of a ghost town....". Halliburton's final dispatch was sent on February 16 from Hong Kong. He reports that it was necessary to leave one man behind in a hospital and that Paul Mooney had suffered a broken ankle. Sailing seemed quite enjoyable as the waters were surprisingly calm but he seemed cautious: "...Where were the Japanese? Where were the pirates? All night long we were in sight of ships - but no Japanese destroyer's chanced by, and no pirates. Apparently the murderous campaign of Japanese war craft sinking every junk has ended...This blissful dream voyage, obviously, could not last. We were awakened by a blast right between the eyes. At noon...with incredible suddenness, the sun departed, black clouds raced overhead, the wind swept down, the waves rose. Pitching and rolling, our decks awash, we held to our course...everything not fastened down began to be flung about the ship. With the downpours...we had to wear our oilskins. At six o' clock on the second afternoon we caught sight of a lighthouse on the coast of China. At six o' clock next morning the same lighthouse was still in the same place. We had not gained an inch. Unfortunately, our oil skins were made in China, so that before long the oil washed off and the rained seeped through...". With the continuance of bad weather and illness overcoming two more deck hands, Halliburton decides to dock at the nearest port, adding "...Our junk, taking advantage of its return to port, will be fitted with a fin-keel, added to the bottom of the ship. Few junks have fin-keels, but few junks plan to tempt the Pacific Ocean. If all goes well, the next letter, the fifth, will carry an American stamp, for Midway Island is America...". Of course, there would not be a fifth letter before Halliburton and his crew would perish on March 24, 1939. The recipient of the letters, Paul Mooney (1904 -1939) was a journalist and the actual writer of these reports from the Sea Dragon. It turns out that Mooney led a secret and colorful life in his own right. He was one of the earliest proponents of gay rights, having established close alliances with actor Ramon Novarro, Harry Hay and Nazi leaders Ernst Rohm and Kurt Ludecke. After the Night of the Long Knives, in which Rohm was murdered, he assisted Ludecke in writing I knew Hitler (1937), an early study of the Fuhrer and "a masterpiece of political self-vindication". In the early 1930's, Mooney became Halliburton's secretary and developed a partnership and relationship that lasted until their deaths. Fine condition, with an original pamphlet entitled "Announcing Richard Halliburton's Letters from the Sea Dragon", 1939.

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October 9, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

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