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1 volume
This volume consists of a pre-printed "Outfits for a Whaling Voyage" notebook kept for the whaling schooner Adelia Chase, likely by Michael A. Ferreira, for a voyage out of New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1886.
The back inside cover of the volume features an advertisement for C. R. Sherman's New Bedford Navigation Store, with "all the various kinds of Nautical, Optical, and Mathematical Instruments. Nautical Books, Stationery, &c. . . . And as complete an assortment of Charts of all parts of the world visited by Whalesmen, as is required to make a complete Navigation Establishment."
The notebook entries record quantities of provisions and stores, tools and hardware, supplies, cordage and sails, clothing, stationery, and more. Several pages of notes at the end of the volume mention stops at Barbados and Fayal or St. Michaels, a list of repairs, and a list of various casks of provisions.
1 volume
This volume contains extracted log entries from the Barque Autumn's whaling voyage from Stonington, Connecticut, to the Indian Ocean and South Pacific between 1845 and 1849. Captain Edwin Augustus Perry commanded the vessel. This abstract log provides a condensed version of the official log, only documenting days the crew saw or captured whales. The coverless volume contains 24 handwritten pages with 48 pencil drawings depicting whales and whaling scenes. The author of the log is unidentified, but a laid-in slip of paper contains a written statement of recommendation for promotion of second officer Zelotes Leonard Almy from Master Edwin A. Perry. The bottom half of the last page contains financial records and notes from Mr. Almy dated 1866.
Leaving from Stonington, Connecticut on November 12, 1845, the Barque Autumn sailed south around the eastern coast of South America. After making port in Rio de Janerio in March 1846, they sailed east toward the Indian Ocean reaching the Cape of Good Hope toward the end of April 1846. By November 1846 the Autumn had sailed off the southern coast of Australia and toward New Zealand. In 1847 and 1848, the Autumn sailed across the Pacific Ocean along the equator. The log concludes off the coast of Chile.
The top of each right hand page begins with the header "Remarks on board the Barque Autumn"; later in the log this header is supplemented by " E. A. Perry Master." A typical entry appears in the following format:
[Day of the Week] [Month, Day, Year] [These twenty-four hours commences with…] […So ends the day. Latitude and Longitude coordinates] [Sketch if applicable]
The abstract's entries follow the standard content for whaling logs, documenting wind direction, weather conditions, ship location, and crew activities. The entries include type of whales spotted, number of whales, number of whaleboats lowered, and whether or not the crew succeeded in capturing whales. The whales tended to evade capture on account of adverse weather conditions or lack of daylight. Entries made note of where and when they made port or dropped anchor. The Autumn encountered other whaling vessels and recorded their point of origin, destination, and the amount of whale products onboard. Toward the end of the expedition, the vessel stopped to trade and replenish supplies.
Besides the inherent challenges of whaling, Captain Perry faced setbacks, such as steering into a coral reef in Matavai Bay and dealing with a fire in the cargo hold set by two crewmembers during repairs (entry dated February 27, 1847). Desertions were a recurring issue, two crewmembers deserted on August 31, 1846, and by January 7, 1848, the entire crew had deserted.
The volume contains 62 entries from November 1845 to May 1849, and are broken down as follows:
- November 12
- January 3 and 28
- March 1
- April 14
- May 30
- June 5, 6, and 15
- July 1 and 15
- August 1, 6, and 31
- October 25
- November 18
- December 1, 11, 24, and 29
- February 27
- April 22
- May 2, 7, 12-14, 23, 25, 28, 29, and 31
- July 11, 17, and 26
- August 8
- September 1, 19, and 21
- October 4, 6, 7, 10, and 26
- November 15
- December one undated entry
- January 7 and 27
- March 29
- April 15
- May 6
- June 27
- July 29
- August 8
- September 10
- December 4 and 8
- January 6 and 16
- February 14
- March 24
- May 2
The 48 pencil drawings illustrate the success or failure to capture whales. The illustrations depicting a whale belly up with the head and tail above water meant that a whale was spotted or pursued, but evaded capture. Entries accompanied by a drawing showing the whale's entire body meant that a whale was captured and killed. The sketches demonstrate artistic skill in the shading of the whales and ocean waves and in panoramic whaling scenes. One illustration of interest, on page 20, depicts a whale's tail slamming down upon a whaleboat, capsizing the vessel and sending six crewmen into the ocean. The crewmembers shirts are spot colored in brown ink.
Vessels mentioned by name include:
- Spoke with Ship Ansel Gibbs (December 1, 1846).
- Spoke with Ship from New Bedford (May 7, 1847).
- Spoke with the Ship Marialah of Fairhaven (March 1, 1846).
Other entries of interest include:
- "saw plenty of wright whales but we did not lower for we did not want them" (November 18, 1846)
- "not liking the harbour we took our anchor put to sea we ware bound to pitcairns island to get potatoes when on the night of the 28th the land about 60 miles off our lee quarter six tahitian natives stole a boat and runaway it being dark they where soon out of sight we stood on diferant tacks until morning the boat not being in sight and thinking it a wild goose chase to follow them we hauled our wind to the northward" (October 26, 1847).
approximately 175 photographs in 4 albums
The New Bedford whaling albums contain approximately 175 photographs in 4 albums pertaining to the whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Of the four albums, three were likely compiled by photographer Joseph Sisson Martin while the fourth was published by New Bedford bookseller H. S. Hutchinson & Co. All four albums (30.5 x 26.5 cm) are leather bound and show considerable wear. The Hutchinson album has some flaking of the leather cover. There are some loose pages, but in general the albums remain intact.
In 1903, H. S. Hutchinson & Co. commissioned the album Cutting In a Whale (Volume 1), which documents the processing of a sperm whale carcass in graphic detail. The 25 gelatin silver images document various stages of the process, including the whale being carved up while alongside a ship and various pieces being hoisted onboard for rendering into whale oil and other commercial products. The original photographs were taken by photographer and accomplished travel writer Marian Shaw Smith, who herself was married to a whaling ship captain. Smith rode along on the bark California as it sailed to the western Pacific Ocean and then procuded the images that went into Cutting In a Whale, developing and printing her roll film while at sea. Each photo is accompanied by a detailed caption.
The other three albums in the collection (Volumes 2-4) were produced by New Bedford photographer Joseph Sisson Martin in the 1910s. Martin primarily photographed whaling ships and associated craftsmen who worked around the wharves, creating a nostalgic tribute to a disappearing industry. Two of these albums also contain many earlier pictures that were taken by other photographers dating back to as early as 1868 and reproduced by Martin. Although specific photographers were not identified or credited by Martin, a number of photographs can be traced to earlier works by Joseph G. Tirrell, a major chronicler of New Bedford's whaling industry. Several of Martin's selections from Tirrell's body of work differ slightly from the Tirrell images held by the New Bedford Public Library. The third Martin album (Volume 4) may possibly contain mostly his own work. The majority of the images in this album are from 1905-1918, and each photograph is dated and captioned in a more detailed manner than the other two Martin albums. Throughout all three of the Martin albums, there are occasional checks or crosses in red pencil present in the right-hand margins. It is not clear when these markings were made or what they signify, though they may possibly represent a selection of photos that were intended to be used for some other purpose. Additionally, in the first Martin album (Volume 2) there are seven photographs of engravings of whale chases, while there are also two photographs (one in Volume 2 and another in Volume 4) of the half-sized model whaler Lagoda located in the Old Dartmouth Historical Society (now kept at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.)
- A.E. Wayland (Volume 4)
- A.R. Tucker (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
- Alice Knowles (Volume 4)
- Andrew Hicks (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Bertha (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Canton (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Catalpa (Volume 3)
- Charles W. Morgan (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Commodore Morris (Volume 3)
- Daisy (Volume 4)
- Desdemona (Volume 3)
- E.B. Conwell (Volume 4)
- Eliza Adams (Volumes 3 and 4)
- Evelyn (Volume 4)
- Falcon (Volume 3)
- Francis Barstow (Volume 3)
- Golden City (Volume 2)
- Greyhound (Volumes 3 and 4)
- Harry Smith (Volume 2)
- Horatio (Volume 4)
- James Arnold (Volume 3)
- Josephine (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
- Josephus (Volume 3)
- Kathleen (Volume 2)
- Laconia (Volume 3)
- Lagoda (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Leonora (Volume 2)
- Massachusetts (Volume 3)
- Morning Star (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Niger (Volume 3)
- Pedro Varela (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Platina (Volumes 2 and 4)
- Progress (Volume 2)
- Rousseau (Volume 3)
- Sullivan (Volume 2)
- Sunbeam (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
- Swallow (Volume 3)
- Tamerlane (Volume 3)
- Viola (Volume 4)
- Wanderer (Volumes 2 and 4)
- William Graber (Volume 4)