The 2006 Lakeside Classics book is:
Twenty Years Before the Mast with the More Thrilling Scenes and Incidents While Circumnavigating the Globe Under the Command of the Late Admiral Charles Wilkes 1838 – 1842 by: Charles Erskine (Note: Twenty Years Before the Mast is a different book than Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.)
You can find out about Admiral Charles Wilkes and the 1838-1842 expedition at Wikipedia. Click here for direct link to Wilkes information
Some information on the Lakeside Classics:
The Lakeside Classics series was started in 1903 by Thomas E. Donnelley, then president of RR Donnelley & Sons Company and son of the founder. T.E. believed that a simple book, dignified and well designed, would be an appropriate holiday gift.
In the introduction to the first Lakeside Classic, he wrote, “If, in a modest way this volume conveys the idea that machine-made books are not a crime against art, and that books may be plain but good, and good though not costly, its mission has been accomplished.”
The basic format of the Lakeside Classics has remained the same for more than 100 years, testifying to the sound design of the first volume. Each 25 years the cover material is changed and type style adjusted to keep pace with current developments in fine book making. Production methods are updated as book manufacturing improvements are introduced. Current editions use electronic page composition, digital scanning and state-of-the-art computer-to-plate technologies.
More information on the Lakeside Classics can be found at the RR Donnelley website.
2004 Lakeside Classic
The 2004 Lakeside Classic was:
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. By Himself
Wikipedia entry about Olaudah Equino:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano
Not only is this a great book but it has some neat color maps and other pictures. The book is also very well constructed. If you appreciate high quality books, both in content and construction, a Lakeside Classic would be great to own. If you run a search at ABE.com for “Olaudah Equino” in the title and “lakeside” as a keyword you can find some very affordable copies. It is possible to get a copy under $10 and that includes shipping. The quality of binding and printing of these books is easily worth $20 in my opinion. So to get the books for under $10 including shipping is a real steal.
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The Olaudah book is on eBay for a reasonable price also:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lakeside-Classics-2004-Life-o
Unfair!
He’s an honor student, as any reader of Bonfire of the Vanities knows.