item number |
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| 51. | Manuscript. ARCHIVE PERTAINING TO CAPT. SAMUEL LOMBARD, THE BRIG ARGUS AND WM. R. ROTCH & CO. 1826-1830. This archive contains about 50 pages of correspondence between Capt. Lombard and his owners back in New Bedford, as Lombard and the Argus worked the South American trade. Letters are from Havanna, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Buenos Ayres, Pernambuco and Montevideo, among other locations. They concern the trade of such commodities as “beef and horns” for sugar and lumber, details of trading voyages, financial matters, local conditions, politics and prices current. Other goods traded include flour, soap, and of course sperm candles. Most of the letters are in stampless covers, many bearing “ship” cancellations. The letters are supported by over 30 documents, including receipts, printed bills of exchange, invoices, lists of goods, inventories, pay lists and disbursements. Rotch parlayed Nantucket whaling wealth into a New Bedford shipping empire. He died in 1828, but an 1826 letter of his to Lombard is included, with what appears to be his signature. For his part, Lombard was all business; indeed, the level of detail in his letters leaves the impression of an extremely well-run commercial enterprise. Fairburn cites a Brig Argus as having been launched in 1804 in Salem. If this is the vessel Lombard refers to as “The good ship Argus,” she’d have been long in the tooth. An unusually coherent collection in Very Good condtion, documents clean and legible. $1500 |
| 52. | Manuscript. JOURNAL OF AN AMERICAN YACHTSMAN COMPETING IN THE 1936 OLYMPICS. Unpaginated (about 100 pp.) Highly detailed journal of a young monotype sailor named Frank Jewett, from his departure at New York, to his arrival in England, and thence to Berlin and Keil, where the races were held. Jewett competed against 27 other countries in an unnamed small singlehanded class, and did not do very well, usually finishing back in the field “As a sailor I might make a good plumber.” Other than his disappointment at his own inexperience and poor showing, the journal is lively, full of detail and even illustrated with Jewett’s humorous drawings. Unique. $300 See Illustration |
| 53. | Manuscript. LETTER BOOK, MAYHEW & WHITE, BOSTON MERCHANTS, 1843-1847. 4to, unpaginated, about 200 manuscript pages. The first 20 pages of letters in this copy book are from A.H. White in Baltimore, dated 1843-1846. In 1846 he moved to Boston and went into partnership with Nathaniel Mayew, as attested by a letter dated Feb. 2, 1846. In another letter White reveals that he was formerly a captain, who retired from the sea for health reasons. Mayhew, we later learn, was also a retired sea captain. The rest of the letter book, now devoted to correspondence of the new firm, includes an interesting list of all the people to whom Mayhew & White sent their circulars, instructions to captains beginning voyages, and news of commercial conditions in various ports in Europe, South America, and the East Indies. Because of White’s experience, the letters often contain nautical advice as well as commercial instructions. As general freight brokers, their goods went to many ports, but they seem to have specialized during these years, at least, in shipping to Calcutta. They also did some business with John Murray Forbes, a China trader. They write in detail of vesels being launched, bought and sold; of shipments of whalebone and whale oil; of monetary returns from various cargoes, and of the superior nature of their ships and captains, as they seek to drum up business in America and Europe. In short, a mine of primary source information. Done in various hands, but always clean and legible. Bound in original half calf over marbled boards. $650 |
| 54. | Martelli, Charles. THE NAVAL OFFICER'S GUIDE FOR PREPARING SHIPS AT SEA. Lon. 1834. 12mo. xii, 328 pp. This text is entirely taken up with instructions for rigging a ship, and working the rigging to perform various evolutions at sea. The hundreds of details are gone through methodically, from anchors to yards, in all their varieties, and all the tasks that can be performed upon them. Scarce in the trade, especially in this first edition. Harland, in the bibliography to his “Seamanship in the Age of Sail” only cites the 1848 edition of Martelli’s book. Bound in half calf over marbled boards. VG $500 |
| 55. | Maury, M. F. THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. NY. 1855. b/w folding plates. xxiv-273 pp. First edition of an important book, “now recognized as the first textbook of modern oceanography. The sea, for the first time, was here viewed as the subject matter of a distinct branch of science with problems of its own. The importance of these problems Maury discussed in engaging and stimulating fashion.”—DAB. Signed on front endpaper by Gouverneur Kemble Warren, a Civil War general. With an 1854 letter from one of Maury’s sisters to another, covering family gossip, in which she says, “Br. Matt is very low; worn to a shadow, I hear, so I can’t give you an answer about the book yet.” She is referring, of course to “The Physical Geogrpaphy of the Sea.” Pastedowns discolored from binder’s glue, as is typical, otherwise a very nice copy showing only light wear. $700 |
| 56. | McFee, William. CASUALS OF THE SEA. Lon. 1916. 469, (1), 15, (1) pp. First edition of McFee’s third book, but the story’s not in the book. It is in the 5 notes and two postcards that accompany the book. They were written by McFee between 1931 and 1938 to Miss Helen Galland who worked at Oxford University Press. In the earliest five, written in 1931, he’s putting the rush on her, tries to get her to go to dinner with him, and refers glowingly to Christopher Morley. In the last two postcards from 1937 and 1938, he says, “Hope to see you yet,” and “May we give it another chance?” These are accompanied by a 1939 letter from Helen’s brother Henry, explaining that he means to give Helen this first edition of “Casuals” in its custom slip case, at a dinner attended only by Christopher Morley and (he hopes) McFee himself. McFee writes back begging off and says, “It has been years since I have had one (a drink) with Morley. I detest and decry Book Clubs, whereas he seems to think they are the thing.” Nonetheless, he has inscribed this copy, “For Helen Galland.” All enclosed in chemise and hand painted slipcase in an anchor and line motif. $850 |
| 57. | McLane, Charles B. ISLANDS OF THE MID-MAINE COAST: PENOBSCOT AND BLUE HILL BAYS. Woolwich, ME. (1982) b/w plates, charts. Oblong 4to. xix, 508 pp. History, anecdotes, and genealogy of the myriad islands of the mid-Maine coast. Divided geographically into 10 sections. Scarce first edition. 8 line inscription by Maine author Elizabeth Hardwick. VG, lightly worn dj. $75 |
| 58. | (McLean, Duncan.) DESCRIPTION OF THE LARGEST SHIP IN THE WORLD, THE NEW CLIPPER GREAT REPUBLIC, OF BOSTON. DESIGNED, BUILT AND OWNED BY DONALD MCKAY, AND COMMANDED BY CAPT. L. MCKAY... Bos. 1853. 6 b/w folding lithograph plates. 24 pp. First and only edition of a rare pamphlet describing the greatest ship of its day. The Great Republic, launched in 1853, was the largest merchant sailing ship ever constructed in the United States. This pamphlet, in its own way, is a grand production. It features six folding plates of plans and lines of the great ship, two of which open out to more than 3 feet in length. Quite a rare item, not in MacDonald, Brewington, NYPL list, or Scott. No holdings in listed OCLC. a Fine copy, bound in original wrappers. $2000 |
| 59. | Melville, Herman. OMOO: A NARRATIVE OF ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS... NY. 1847 b/w chart. xvi, 389, (xvi)-xxiii, 16 pp. First American edition of Melville’s popular second novel. Building on the success of his first effort Melville continued his autobiographical portrait of these years. “Omoo” deals with the mutiny aboard Melville’s ship and his subsequent wanderings about various parts of Tahiti and other islands. With 24 pp. of publisher’s advertizements at back. Rebound in full brown morocco with raised bands, gilt lettering and gilt inner dentelles, with cloth from original covers bound in. $750 |
| 60. | Morrell, Benjamin and Lieut. P. Petrie, R.N. MORRELL’S NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH AND WEST COAST OF AFRICA: CONTAINING THE INFORMATION FROM WHENCE ORIGINATED THE PRESENT TRADE IN GUANO, FOUND ON CERTAIN ISLANDS ON THAT COAST. Lon. 1844. vii, 144 pp. Lt. Petrie gives a two page introduction justly praising Morrell for his visionary qualities, and naively affirming the truthfulness of Morrell’s narrative. He then reprints Morrell’s fourth voyage, in which he visits these guano islands, and adds a twenty page appendix about African guano, its history, chemistry, and commercial application. I believe this is quite a scarce little variant edition of one of Morrell’s voyages. No holdings in OCLC. Bound in original cloth with gold cover lettering. Spine lightly sunned. VG $1250 |
| 61. | Moses, Henry. SKETCHES OF SHIPPING DRAWN AND ETCH'D. (Lon.) 1837. b/w etchings. Folio, unpaginated Etched title and 57 plates. The images are reminiscent of, but more charming than, those in Cooke’s Shipping and Craft. Brewington lists Moses as an English etcher who was born in 1782 in London. He worked for the British Museum, and died in 1870. Moses published books of drawings of art objects and of historical scenes throughout the first half of the 19th century. However, this title is among his scarcest, with only two copies listed on OCLC. Brewington Dictionary, p. 268. Scattered foxing, otherwise a Very Good copy of a scarce work in original cloth binding.. $2500 See Illustration |
| 62. | Navy Department. ORDNANCE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES NAVY. Wash. 1860. b/w plates. Various paginations (about 300 pp.) “Preparation for vessels of war for battle...” With appendices giving table of allowance for crews, ordnance stores, station bills, etc. Illustrated by b/w lithograph plates of ordnance and equipment. Highly detailed official publication from the Civil War period. Inscribed to a Captain in the Royal Navy by Joshua Sands who was flag officer of the Brazil Squadron, aboard the Congress. Beneath his inscription he adds the note, “Most of the contents having been compiled & drawn up by Captain Goldsborough.” With the bookplate of Capt. Phillimore of the Royal Navy. Second, revised issue of the 1860 edition. Bound in original calf over boards. VG $500 |
| 63. | (Norddeutscher Lloyd) DER OZEAN-EXPRESS “BREMEN.” Munich. n.d. (but ca. 1930) Color and b/w plates. 4to. 192 pp. A most unusual work, entirely devoted to the interior decoration of the quadruple screw steamer built in 1929 for North German Lloyd. The forth ship of this name for the company, she displaced 52,000 tons and was capable of 28 1/2 knots. After introductions by Prof. de Groot and P. Biedermann, technical director of Norddeutscher Lloyd, we are taken on an unparalleled photo tour of the vessel, from first class to tourist, with frequent color plates (these are artist’s renderings) of public spaces, shipboard shops, artwork, decorative motifs, etc. This is the most complete work of its kind that I’ve seen. Bound in red and gold art deco cover, which is rather rubbed and worn, spine chipped. Interior clean. $300 |
| 64. | Pages, Pierre Marie Francois. TRAVELS AROUND THE WORLD IN THE YEARS 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771. Lon. 1793, 1792. 3 vols. xx, 300; xx11, (2), 303; xii, 268 pp. After exploring the Louisiana Territory, Texas, and Mexico, the intrepid Pages sailed on a Manila Galleon to Guam, then Java, India and Persia, and back to France. Hill says this work, “offers much information on the Spanish colonial empire in North America and in the orient... The original French edition was published in Paris in 1782... a corrected and enlarged second English edition ... was made available in 1793...”- Hill 1285. See also Howes, Streeter and for more details of this book’s complicated bibliography. The third volume contains “Voyage toward the South Pole...” and “Voyage toward the North Pole...” The former is an account of Kerguelen’s unsuccessful search for the South Pole. The latter recounts Pages’ own experience on a Dutch whaler to Spitzbergen. He later fought in the American Revolution and was murdered by slaves in the Santo Domingo insurrection in 1793. Bound in old calf. covers worn, one joint cracked. Text good. $750 |
| 65. | (Panckoucke Charles Joseph.) RECUEIL DE PLANCHES PAR ORDRE MATIERIES. Paris. 1783. b/w engraved plates, many folding. 4to. 156, (1), 16 plates. Pancoucke worked for over a decade to improve on Diderot. This volume of 173 plates, many folding, comprises all branches of marine architecture, ship building, rigging, drydocking, ropemaking, and navigation. Some of the large plates are quite magnificent, folding out to about 3 feet. There are also 6 plates featuring hundreds of flags of maritime nations, and even illustrations of diving apparatus. Slight worming at gutter margin affecting a few images, else VG in contemporary calf over marbled boards with spine label. $1500 See Illustration |
| 66. | Parker, Wm. H. REMARKS ON THE NAVIGATION OF THE COASTS BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO AND PANAMA. NY. 1871. vii, 47, (1) pp. interleaved with blanks. Parker served in the Mexican war and continued his career as a Confederate naval officer (about which he wrote a highly praised book entitled “Recollections of a Naval Officer.”) After the war he became a Commander in the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. and wrote the present work based on his travels. It gives sailing directions with descriptions of harbors, landmarks and hazards. There is much detail on the California coast, but the book is not recorded in Cowan. This copy is inscribed by Oliver Eldridge to the famous whaling Captian Charles M. Scammon. It is also from the library of west coast marine historian John Haskell Kemble, making it a doubly interesting association item. First edition. Bound in worn calf over boards. Text clean. $750 |
| 67. | Peabody Museum of Salem. PORTRAITS OF SHIPMASTERS AND MERCHANTS IN THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF SALEM. Salem, MA. 1939. b/w plates. xii, 185 pp. Plus portraits not in pagination, With description of painting, history of subject and list of references. Introduction by Walter Muir Whitehill. Scarce and useful. This is an unnumbered copy in a limited edition of 205 copies. Spine lightly sunned, VG. $150 |
| 68. | Pepys, Samuel. THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS, M.A., F.R.S., CLERK OF THE ACTS AND SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY. Lon. 1893-99. Color and b/w plates, manuscripts. 10 vol. A fine set. Transcribed from the shorthand manuscript in the Pepysian Library Magdalene College Cambridge by the Rev. Mynors Bright M.A. late fellow and President of the College. With Lord Braybrooke's notes. Edited with additions by Henry B. Wheatley F.S.A. An extra-illustrated set, incorporating two original documents signed by Pepys and countersigned, one by Charles II, the other by James II. Other added illustrations in each volume include approximately 95 color, and 225 black & white images. This edition, edited by Wheatley, was considered the most scholarly 19th century edition of Pepys’ diaries. Ten volumes, in full brown morocco leather, bound by Bayntun, with raised bands and gilt rules on spine, and stylized gilt rules on front and rear boards; gilt decorated inner dentelles. All page edges gilt. $10000 See Illustration |
| 69. | Phillips, James Duncan. SALEM AND THE INDIES. Bos. 1947. b/w plates. xx, 468 pp. History of the great commercial era of the city, from the Revolution to the War of 1812. #107 in a limited large-paper edition of 225, signed by Phillips. Fine bright copy in numbered slipcase. $150 |
| 70. | Photo. JAMES SHEWAN. SHIPWRIGHT, CAULKER, JOINER, &C. Albumen print approx. 17 x 13 inches on printed backing, 19 1/2 x 18 inches. The printed caption beneath the photos continues “People’s Dry Docks. Capacity 600 and 1000 tons. Foot of Stanton Street, East River, New York. Telephone Call 738 Spring.” This is a detailed shipyard photo from some time around the turn of the century showing two wooden sailing ships in drydock with workers, supplies and shipyard equipment and tools in the foreground. According to Bradley’s Waterfront Directory for 1896 (see item #16, above) Shewan occupied Pier 61 with two ice companies and a coal company. A few spots at the top of the photo. Cardboard backing tanned and stained. $850 See Illustration |
| 71. | (Pickering, Timothy.) LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE, INCLOSING ABSTRACTS OF ALL THE RETURNS... OF REGISTERED AND IMPRESSED SEAMEN. (Phila.) 1799. 20, 16 pp. Detailed information on Americans impressed by British and French, with names, ships, and graphic material on flogging and beatings. The data examines, for each district within each state, seamen who are citizens by birth, residence or naturalization; notes the protests by masters of the United States vessels concerning the impressments; provides information on each impressment; with narratives and affidavits of eye-witnesses, including impressed mariners. Evans, 36532. Smith II, 3343, who observes, “most of the efforts during the 1790s to aid impressed seamen met with little success.” Stitched, as issued. Untrimmed and partially uncut. VG $375 |
| 72. | Print. U.S. SHIP OF THE LINE PENNSYLVANIA. 140 GUNS. Image size 13 x 9. A small folio color lithograph by N. Currier, 2 Spruce St. N.Y. 1848. Vessel’s statistics are printed beneath the title line as part of the caption. In an old, probably original, frame. Tanned, but good condition. $200 |
| 73. | Putnam, George Granville. SALEM VESSELS AND THEIR VOYAGES. Salem. 1924-1930. 4 vols. various paginations. Many Salem vessels and captains pictured and described. A microcosm of 19th century American maritime trade. VG-Fine $250 |
| 74. | (Reid, Samuel C.) A COLLECTION OF SUNDRY PUBLICATIONS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS, IN RELATION TO THE ATTACK MADE DURING THE LATE WAR UPON THE PRIVATE BRIG GENERAL ARMSTRONG, OF NEW-YORK, COMMANDED BY S. C. REID, ON THE NIGHT OF THE 26TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1814, AT THE ISLAND OF FAYAL, BY HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S SHIPS PLANTAGENET SEVENTY-FOUR, ROTA FRIGATE, AND CARNATION SLOOP OF WAR. NY 1833. 12mo. iv, 55 pp. This little known naval action (in which an American privateer repulsed a British squadron of three war-ships at Fayal) deserves to be ranked with the decisive battles of American history. It delayed the British attack on New Orleans by more than ten days. Had that delay not occurred, “the British Army might have marched into and taken possession of New Orleans before the American forces could by any possibility have arrived.” This collection includes all public and governmental documents and acts relating to the engagement, including a song composed by members of the crew. Reid’s naval career began when Thomas Truxtun advanced him to acting Midshipman in Baltimore during the Quasi-War. Reid reappears in naval annals as commander of the privateer General Armstrong during the War of 1812, the subject of this little treatise. The New York legislature voted him a sword of thanks for the action described and the Navy commissioned him a Sailing Master, a title he used until his death. He is less well known for his proposal to adopt the 13 stripes on the American flag while adding a star for each new state, a proposal adopted by Congress. The first such flag was raised over the Hall of Representatives in Washington on 13 April 1818. Howes C582. Bound in recent 1/4 calf over marbled boards, with spine label. Text clean. VG. $750 |
| 75. | Rice, George Wharton. THE SHIPPING DAYS OF OLD BOOTHBAY. Boothbay Horbor, ME. 1938. b/w ills. xv, 419 pp. “From the Revolution to the World War with mention of adjacent towns.” Much shipbuilding and related maritime history. Superior local history. Indexed, with bibliography and lists of vessels. Haskell, Maine Bib. 2348. Lightly sunned, VG. $150 |