The Watermen

Historical Fiction

James Michener’s The Watermen pairs the author’s sweeping Chesapeake prose with John Moll’s elegant scratchboard drawings, creating a 1979 picture book that celebrates the Bay’s duck culture and the hardy men who hunted it. Random House released this stand-alone hardcover as a collectible spin-off from Michener’s blockbuster epic, giving readers a focused, art-rich glimpse into the region’s vanished waterfowl traditions.

Every one of the 193 pages is clean and unmarked, the binding square and tight, making this vintage copy a pleasure to page through. Though the unclipped jacket shows the expected shelf rub and two tiny edge nicks, the art beneath remains vivid, and the bottom page block carries only a discreet prior-owner stamp. No writing, no dog-ears, no ex-library marks—just a solid, gently read survivor for nature, art, or Michener completists.

Collectors of American sporting art, Chesapeakeana, or Michener first editions will appreciate the combination of literary heft and illustrated charm. The book sits equally well on a coffee table or tucked into a shelf of classic environmental writing, inviting quiet winter evenings with stories of decoys, tides, and the enduring pull of tidal life.