Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (born August 1, 1815 in Cambridge , Massachusetts ; died January 6, 1882 in Rome ) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer.
Studies and seafaring
He was born to one of the most distinguished families in Cambridge; his grandfather, Francis Dana , had represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress and was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation ; his father, Richard Henry Dana Sr., was a renowned lawyer and publicist. He enrolled at Harvard University , but dropped out after suffering from measles that severely impaired his eyesight. Believing a sea voyage would be good for his eyes, he hired in 1834 as a simple seaman on the brig Pilgrim , which sailed from Boston to California . During the sea voyage around Cape Horn , his stay in California and the return to Boston on the ship Alert , he kept a diary that became the basis for his book Two Years Before the Mast , published in 1840 . In this work Dana describes his adventures at sea, his maturation from greenhorn to experienced sailor, and in a vivid way the Californian society of the time. The book became a bestseller in Great Britain and the USA and is still very popular today, especially as a book for young people. Two Years Before the Mast significantly influenced the development of the English-language seafaring novel. Herman Melville specifically paid tribute to Dana's work in his 1850 novel White-Jacket .
Profession as a lawyer and politician
Upon his return to Massachusetts, Dana graduated and embarked on a legal career. He was initially an expert on maritime law , but became increasingly involved in the abolitionist movement (anti-slavery movement). In 1848 he attended the formation of the Free Soil Party and on several occasions represented escaped slaves who had fled the southern states to Massachusetts and were extradited under the Fugitive Slave Act . In 1854, after the trial of the runaway slave Anthony Burns , he was beaten almost to death on the street by hired thugs. In 1861 he was appointed state attorney for Massachusetts by Abraham Lincoln . During the civil war , he successfully defended the legality of the confiscation of southern ships and the blockade of their ports by Union ships before the Supreme Court . In 1864 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . From 1867 to 1868 he was a member of the Massachusetts General Court , the parliament of his home state.
The last years of his life were overshadowed by a plagiarism process that went on for years. Dana has been charged with using passages penned by the previous editor, William Beach Lawrence , as the editor of Henry Wheaton 's Elements of International Law . The process also affected his political career; In 1876, Dana's political enemies prevented President Ulysses S. Grant from being appointed ambassador to England , citing the plagiarism process .
Judgment on the allegation of plagiarism
The Massachusetts District Court judgment of 1869 in the Laurence vs. Dana is the first in the United States to deal with copyright law
“In this case, the court found that subsequent editions to a book without alterations or additions should have the same copyright, because they find their only protection in the original copyright; but second or subsequent editions, with notes or other improvements, are new books, within the meaning of the copyright acts, and the authors or proprietors of the same are required to “deposit a printed copy of such book,” and “give information of copyright being secured, ”as if no prior edition of the work had ever been published. The term of the copyright as to the notes or improvements, is computed from the time of recording the title thereof, and not from the time of recording the title of the original work. Copyrights afford no protection to what was not in existence at the time when they were granted. "
“ In this case, the court ruled that subsequent editions of a work, without changes or additions, claim the copyright of the original because their only protection is the copyright of the original. However, second or subsequent editions with annotations or other edits are new works within the meaning of copyright laws, and the authors or owners of the same are obliged to “deposit a printed copy of the book” and “declare copyright reservation” as if a previous one Edition of the work would never have been published. The duration of the copyright in respect of the annotations or enhancements is calculated from the time the reissued title was recorded, not the time the title of the original work was recorded. Copyright does not provide protection for what did not exist at the time it was claimed. "
Works
- Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
- The Seaman's Friend: Containing a Treatise on Practical Seamanship, with Plates; A Dictionary of Sea Terms; Customs and Usages of the Merchant Service; Laws Relating to the Practical Duties of Master and Mariners (1841)
- To Cuba and Back (1859)
- Journal of a Voyage round the World (1859-1860)
- Twenty-Four Years After (1869; defamation of Two Years Before the Mast )
- Robert F. Lucid (Ed.): The Journal of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. 3 volumes. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1968.
Secondary literature
- Charles Francis Adams : Richard Henry Dana: A Biography . 2 volumes. Boston 1890.
- Robert L. Gale: Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Twayne, Boston 1969.
- Kathryn Mudgett: Writing the Seaman's Tale in Law and Literature: Dana, Melville, and Justice Story . AMS Press, New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-404-64481-9 .
- Samuel Shapiro: Richard Henry Dana, Jr .: 1815-1882 . Michigan State University Press, East Lansing 1961.
Web links
- Richard Henry Dana, Jr. in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- Literature by and about Richard Henry Dana, Jr. in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dana, Richard Henry Jr. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American writer, lawyer and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 1, 1815 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cambridge , Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 6, 1882 |
| Place of death | Rome |