author
William N. Brady
d. 1887
A 19th-century American seaman and practical writer, he is best remembered for turning hands-on naval knowledge into a clear guide for young sailors. His work helped explain the ropes—literally—of seamanship, rigging, and life aboard ship.
1 Audiobook
The kedge-anchor : or, Young sailors' assistant.
by William N. Brady
About the author
William N. Brady was a 19th-century American author known for nautical instruction books, especially The Kedge-Anchor; or, Young Sailors' Assistant. Library and public-domain catalog records identify him as an author who died in 1887, and his best-known book was published in New York in 1857, with later editions following.
His writing focused on practical seamanship: rigging, knotting, sails, anchors, ship handling, and other shipboard duties useful to sailors and junior officers. The book's long life in library collections and modern public-domain editions suggests it remained a valued reference well beyond its first publication.
Some historical and memorial sources also describe him as William Nicholas Brady, a U.S. Navy sailing master associated with the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Because biographical details are limited and not fully consistent across sources, the clearest picture is of a working mariner who wrote from experience and left behind one of the better-known American seamanship manuals of his era.