The Plough Boy Anthology:
19th Century American Whaling
"The Ploughboy Anthology: 19th Century American Whaling" contains transcriptions of books, articles, documents, and manuscript material telling the story of Pacific sperm whaling in the 19th century.
Access by decade of publication:
Access by personal author:
(Note: will return only first instance of the author.)
This site is still under construction.
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William Falconer.
An Universal Dictionary of the Marine: or, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Furniture, Machinery, Movements, and Military Operations of a Ship.
London: T. Cadell, 1769.
Complete
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The classic 18th century nautical dictionary by sailor/poet William Falconer.
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1782 - Crèvecoeur - Letters from an American farmer
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur,
Letters from an American farmer: describing certain provincial situations, manners, and customs, not generally known : and conveying some idea of the late and present interior circumstances of the British colonies in North America ....
London: T. Davies, 1782.
318 p. : maps ; 22 cm.
Complete.
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1791 - Jefferson on the Cod and Whale fisheries
United States. Department of State.
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826.
Report of the secretary of state, on the subject of the cod and whale fisheries, : made conformably to an order of the House of Representatives of the United States, referring to him the representation of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on those subjects; February 1st, 1791.:
Published by order of the Senate of the United States. Philadelphia: Printed by John Fenno, no. 69, in High-Street., M.DCC.XCI. [1791].
Complete.
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1794 - Nantucket from the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, for the Year 1794.
Vol. III.
Boston: Printed in the year 1794.
Re-printed by Munroe & Francis, No. 4. Cornhill,
Printers to the Massacusetts Historical Society, 1810.
Selections.
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Pages 153 through 161 with four papers on Nantucket: the island, it's founding and history, vital statistics, and the whale fishery.
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1794 - The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship.
David Steel.
The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship.
Illustrated with Engravings.
In Two Volumes.
London: Printed for David Steel, 1794.
Full text in one volume.
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The classic late eighteenth century handbook on nautical science and text-book on seamanship. Contains many plates and tables.
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1819 - Sampson - Is a Whale a Fish? ....
William Sampson (1764–1836).
Is a Whale a Fish? An accurate report of the case of James Maurice against Samuel Judd, tried in the mayor's court of the city of New-York, on the 30th and 31st of December, 1818, wherein the above problem is discussed theologically, scholastically, and historically.
New-York, C. S. Van Winkle, 1819.
81 pages.
Complete.
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1828 - Lay and Hussey - A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board the Ship Globe ....
William Lay and Cyrus M. Hussey.
A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board the Ship Globe, of Nantucket, in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1824: And the Journal of a Residence of Two Years on the Mulgrave Islands; with Observations on the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, by William Lay, of Saybrook, Conn. and Cyrus M. Hussey, of Nantucket: the only survivors from the massacre of the ship's company by the natives.
New London, Conn., Wm. Lay and C. M. Hussey, 1828.
168 pages
Complete.
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1831 - Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
Octavius Pickering.
Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
By Octavius Pickering, Counsellor at Law.
Vol. 12.
Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1835.
Selections.
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The two decisions (pages 107-112) were landmarks in apprentice law as related to the cooper's trade. Both were decided October term 1831 sitting at Plymouth, Massachusetts, Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw presiding.
The first case "Richard Randall versus Francis Rotch et al. (Randall v. Rotch, 12 Pick. 107) ended the custom and practice of a master coopers sending his apprentice on a whaling voyage while pocketing the proceeds paid to the apprentice for the voyage.
The second case "Hiram Nickerson versus John G. Easton (Nickerson v. Easton 12 Pick. 110) was related the the first, but stipulated that once the apprentice ceased to reside with the master, the contract of apprenticeship was ended and he was entitled to earnings made on a whaling voyage.
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1831 - Beechey - Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Beering's strait ....
Frederick William Beechey (1796-1856).
Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Beering's strait, to co-operate with the polar expeditions: performed in His Majesty's ship Blossom, under the command of Captain F.W. Beechey ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ....
London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley. 1831
2 v. front., plates, port., maps (part fold.) 22 cm.
Selection.
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Selection - Vol. 2, Chapter 6, pp. 227-241: [The Bonin Islands]
Captain Frederick Beechey, commander of H.M.S. Blossom, is generally regarded as the modern discoverer of the Bonin Islands. The Arrowsmith charts used by Beechey included a group of islands called the Bonin Isles that had been placed on these maps in 1823 based on the work of Remusat. Beechey claimed the islands for Great Britain and named the islands of the middle cluster. Beechey did not visit the southern or northern group of islands. Because the group corresponded to the Yslas del Arzobispo that had been noted in an old Spanish pubication from Manilla with the title Navigacion Especulativa y Practica, he retained this as a parallel name for the overall group of islands.
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1835 - Information Collected by the Navy Department Relating to Islands, Reefs, Shoals, Etc., in the Pacific Ocean and South Seas ....
United States. Congress.
"Information Collected by the Navy Department Relating to Islands, Reefs, Shoals, Etc., in the Pacific Ocean and South Seas, and Showing the Expediency of an Exploring Expedition in that Ocean and those Seas by the Navy", 29 January 1835
(Report No. 573, to the House from the Navy Department)
American State Papers: Naval Affairs Vol. 4, pp. 688-700.
Washington, Gale's & Seaton. 1861.
Complete.
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See also:
Report No. 363 (25 March 1828)
Report No. 387 (16 February 1829)
Report No. 391 (23 February 1829)
Report No. 415 (17 March 1830)
Report No. 578 ( 7 February 1835)
Report No. 620 (21 March 1836)
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1839 - Beale - The natural history of the sperm whale
Thomas Beale (1807-1849).
The natural history of the sperm whale. Its anatomy and physiology, food, spermaceti, ambergris, rise and progress of the fhshery, chase and capture, "cutting in" and "trying out", description of the ships, boats, men and instruments used in the attack; with an account of its favourite places of resort. To which is added a sketch of a South-Sea whaling voyage; embracing a description of the extent, as well as the adventures and accidents that occurred during the voyage in which the author was personally engaged.
London, John Van Voorst, 1839.
vi, [7]-12, 393 p. front., illus., 2 pl. 20 cm.
Complete.
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See above: Beale's A few observations on the natural history of the sperm whale
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1840 - Bennett - Narrative of a whaling voyage round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836 - Vol. 1
Frederick Debell Bennett (1806-1858).
Narrative of a whaling voyage round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836. Comprising sketches of Polynesia, California, the Indian Archipelago, etc. with an account of southern whales, the sperm whale fishery, and the natural history of the climates visited.
London: Richard Bentley, 1840.
2 v. fronts., illus., map. (fold.) 22 cm.
Vol. 1 Complete.
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See below: Vol. 2 of Bennett.
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1840 - Bennett - Narrative of a whaling voyage round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836 - Vol. 2
Frederick Debell Bennett (1806-1858).
Narrative of a whaling voyage round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836. Comprising sketches of Polynesia, California, the Indian Archipelago, etc. with an account of southern whales, the sperm whale fishery, and the natural history of the climates visited.
London: Richard Bentley, 1840.
2 v. fronts., illus., map. (fold.) 22 cm.
Vol. 2 Complete.
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See below: Vol. 1 of Bennett.
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1841 - Olmsted - Incidents of a whaling voyage ....
Francis Allyn Olmsted (1819-1844).
Incidents of a whaling voyage: to which are added observations on the scenery manners and customs, and missionary stations of the Sandwich and Society Islands ...
New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1841.
360 p.: ill., music; 20 cm.
Complete.
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1841 - Dana - The Seaman's Friend
Richard Henry Dana, jr. (1815-1882).
The Seaman's Friend; Containing a Treatise on Practical Seamanship, with Plates, a Dictionary of Sea Terms; Customs and Usages of the Merchant Service; Laws Relating to the Practical Duties of Master and Mariners.
Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown, and Benjamin Loring & Co., [1841].
viii, 223 pages, [5] leaves of plates, illustrations, 20cm.
Complete.
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See above: Dana's Two years before the mast.
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Story of a whale chase in which two boats are stove and a boatsteerer survives being in a whales jaw.
"Incident of a Whaler" by an eye witness.
The Signal of Liberty (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Vol. 4, No. 45 (Whole No. 201)
Monday, March 3, 1845.
p. 177.
Full text.
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An account of a whale chase where the Captain's boat "gets fast"; the 2d Mate's boat arrives and attempts the same before it gets stove. The boat steerer of the 2d Mates boat is rescued by the Captain's boat when the whale crashes into the boat knocking the the boat steerer into jaws of the whale. The whale dives and somehow the unfortunate boat steerer is set free but much injured. He survives but the whale was lost.
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1845 – A Whaling Expedition.
"A Whaling Expedition."
The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle, for 1845.
Enlarged series, No. 3 — vol. for 1845.
pp. 135-142
Full text.
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A general description of a whaling voyage on a British whale ship in the Indian Ocean. Includes an account of the destruction of a whale boat by a whale and the death of one of the boat crew.
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1845 - Darwin - Journal of researches . . .
Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H. M. S. Beagle round the world, under the command of Capt. Fitz Roy, R.N.
London: John Murray, 1845.
Second edition, corrected, with additions.
x, 519 p. illus. 21 cm.
Selected text – Chapter 17 – Galapagos Archipelago. pp. 372-401.
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1846 - Browne - Etchings of a whaling cruise ....
J. Ross Browne (John Ross) (1817-1875).
Etchings of a whaling cruise, with notes of a sojourn on the island of Zanzibar. To which is appended a brief history of the whale fishery.
New York: Harper, 1846.
580 p. front., illus., plates. 24 cm.
Complete.
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1846 - Whale-Fisheries
"Whale-Fisheries"
The United States Democratic Review.
Vol. 19, Issue 102 (December 1846)
pp. 453-464.
Complete.
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1850 - Cheever - The whale and his captors ....
Henry T. Cheever, 1814-1897.
The whale and his captors; or, The whalemen's adventures, and the whale's biography as gathered on the homeward cruise of the "Commodore Preble
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1850.
xiii, [21]-314 p. incl. plates. 17 1/2cm.
Complete.
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1856 - Perry - Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China Seas and Japan ....
Matthew Calbraith Perry, (1794-1858) & Francis L. Hawks (1798-1866).
Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China Seas and Japan : performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy, by order of the government of the United States.
Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer, 1856.
Senate Executive Document No. 79 (33d Congress, 2d Session)
3 volumes
illustrations, plates (some color) portraits, maps (17 folded) facsimiles (2 folded) diagrams ; 30 cm.
Selected text: Chapter X: [Bonin Islands], pp.197-214.
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1860 – Capt. E. C. Williams booklet to accompany his South Sea whaling voyage panorama show.
Edward C. Williams.
Life in the South Seas: History of the Whale Fisheries, Habits of the Whale, Perils of the Chase and Method of Capture: Startling Incidents, Graphic Deleniations, Thrilling Scenes in the Life of the American Whaleman, Compiled from Various Writers and the Author's Personal Experience of the scenes described.
New York: Polhemus & De Vries, 1860.
Full text.
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Booklet prepared for Williams' Panorama of a South Sea Whaling Voyage -- a theatrical show with a moving panorama which toured in New England, New York, and Philadelphia in the early 1860s. Begins with a Moby Dick 'Extracts' section. Otherwise an anthology of texts taken from the whaling literature available in 1860 — Melville, Browne, Beale, Olmstead, Hart, Macy, etc.
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1871 - The Boy's Manual of Seamanship and Gunnery.
Commander C. Burney.
The Boy's Manual of Seamanship and Gunnery: compiled for the use of The Training Ships of the Royal Navy.
Fifth Edition.
London: Trubner & Co., 1871.
Full text in one volume.
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Fifth edition of a text-book on seamanship for boys in the Royal Navy. Contains many images and tables.
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1876 - Catalogue of Nantucket Whalers
Hussey & Robinson (Firm).
Catalogue of Nantucket Whalers: And Their Voyages from 1815 to 1870.
Hussey & Robinson, printers and publishers, 1876.
54 pages
Complete.
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1878 - Starbuck - History of the American whale fishery, from its earliest inception to the year 1876
Starbuck, Alexander (1841-1925).
History of the American whale fishery, from its earliest inception to the year 1876.
Waltham, Mass.:, The author, 1878.
768 p. vi plates, 24 cm.
"First published in part IV of the report of the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries, Washington, 1878, also issued privately by the author, 1878."
Complete text of narrative; tabular section pages available via hyperlink.
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1891 - S.B. Luce - Text-Book of Seamanship.
Stephen Bleecker Luce.
Text-Book of Seamanship. The Equipping and Handling of Vessels Under Sail or Steam.
Revised and Enlarged by Lieutenant Aaron Ward, U. S. Navy.
With Illustrations Drawn by Lieutenant S. Seabury, U. S. Navy.
New York: Van Nostrand Company, 1891.
Full text.
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The revised and enlarged edition of a popular text on seamanship at the end of the age of sail. This work includes many execellenti plates and llustrations. Frequently republished.
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Marian Shaw Smith / H.S. Hutchinson (Firm)
Cutting in a whale; a series of twenty-five photographs taken on board Bark California
H.S. Hutchinson, New Bedford, Mass., [1903]
Complete.
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The 25 photographs that appeared in the volume published by H. S. Harrison & Co. in 1903 are brought together in this page. The photographer, Marian Shaw Smith, is associated with the publication bibliographically.
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Whale Fishery of New England &mdash: 1915
State Street Trust Company, Boston.
Whale fishery of New England: An account, with illustrations and some interesting and amusing anecdotes, of the rise and fall of an industry which has made New England famous throughout the world.
Boston, P. Walton, 1915.
Full text.
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A very readable short history of American whaling.
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1915 - Cholmondeley - The history of the Bonin Islands from the year 1827 to the year 1876 ....
Lionel Berners Cholmondeley, 1858-1945.
The history of the Bonin Islands from the year 1827 to the year 1876, and of Nathaniel Savory, one of the original settlers; to which is added a short supplement dealing with the islands after their occupation by the Japanese.
London: Constable & Co., Ltd., 1915.
viii p., 2 l., 178 p., 1 l. front., plates. 23 cm.
Notes: Maps on lining-paper.
Complete.
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1925 Dow Whaleships and Whaling Plus
George Francis Dow.
Whale Ships and Whaling: A Pictorial History of Whaling During Three Centuries.
With an account of the whale fishery in colonial New England.
Introduction by Frank Wood, Curator of the Bourne Whaling Museum, New Bedford, Mass.
Salem, Massachusetts, Marine Research Society, 1925.
Complete with enhanced images.
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This transcription of Dow's 1925 classic collection of images of whaling ships and the whale fisheries has been amended in many cases with many images of the originals used by author. While most of these have come from the MIT Museum's Allan Forbes Collection, others have been taken from other current sources found on the internet.
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