Hello All,I wanted to inform history buffs / scholars of a new historical source which also happens to be fun reading.It is the travel memoir of Edward Ward, a US Navy midshipman aboard the USS John Adams on a flag-showing cruise around the world from 1838 to 1840. I discovered the handwritten manuscript while I was working at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. The journal had been President Roosevelt's personal property, part of his collection of historical documents and letters. I have edited the manuscript and added footnotes, a preface, and an epilogue.I finished the manuscript in 2002 and have tried for about seven years to find either a publisher or an agent. No takers. The usual response runs along the lines of, "We find the manuscript very interesting, and enjoyed reading it, but doubt it would find a sufficiently large audience to justify publication." If they all knew how many of them claimed to have enjoyed reading the journal, they may have felt differently about having a "sufficiently large audience." In any case, the publishing industry has been in trouble for a long time, under pressure from many other forms of entertainment, and is unwilling to risk investing in anything other than what it perceives as a slam-dunk. The present economic climate cannot make it any easier.Therefore I thought I'd offer this manuscript to the public free on the web, rather than continue trying to find a publisher. This journal is a fun read -- and it deserves to finally see the light of day, 169 years after the events it describes. Edward Ward would certainly be pleased to know he had helped others to "beguile an hour of its tediousness," as he says in the journal.It can be read at http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/user_id/catskillEnjoy!

Contact Four Seasons Publishers (editor Frank Hudak) and see if he would be interested in helping you get it published.  They are located in Titusville, Florida (or were as it's been several years since I dealt with them).