1787. Boyton, Paul. The Story of Paul Boyton. 1892. Riverside Printing. 359p. Gilt embossed wraps. “A rare tale of travel and adventure, voyages on all of the great rivers of the world, paddling over twenty-thousand miles in a rubber dress.” Boyton, eager for adventure at a young age, began toying with the rubber suit invented by C.S. Merriman as a life-saving device for steamship passengers. The suit, which would become Boyton’s trademark, was essentially a pair of rubber pants and shirt cinched tight at the waist. Within the suit were air pockets the wearer could inflate at will using tubes. Similar to modern-day wetsuits, the suit also kept its wearer dry. This essentially allowed the wearer to float on his back, using a double-sided paddle to propel himself, feet-forward. Boyton made numerous expeditions in this suit, swimming up and down rivers across America and Europe to publicize its uses. Boyton would tow a small boat behind him in which he carried his supplies and personal possessions, and sometimes invited newspaper reporters to accompany him. Although the US Life-Saving Service would consider and test the Merriman suit, Superintendent Sumner I Kimball questioned the general application of the expensive Merriman life-saving dress, which nonetheless performed commendable service on occasion. A few such suits were tested including at the Surfside Life-Saving Station on Nantucket, but they were not put into general use as Kimball anticipated that the cork life-belt then in use in Europe would provide adequate buoyancy for the crew while proving less cumbersome than the rubber suit. Contents darkened from age, somewhat brittle, a few chips, hinges becoming loose. Wraps bright, edges and corners worn. Rare title. (G+). $74.