Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery. The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842.

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p. 11, when in 1821 Charles Wilkes was assigned to the Franklin for a cruise to the Pacific: The Franklin proved to be just the ship for an officer of Wilkes’s interests. On the gun deck there was a library, and Wilkes, with the help of an assistant became the librarian.