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THB19th Century Collection of Whaling and Other Nautical Documents, Letters, and More
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveFeb 21, 2017 - Feb 22, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (290)
- Lot Description
Collection of approx. 92 nautical documents and papers, with approx. 75 related to whaling in the 1850s. Includes:
61 checks, mostly signed by William Hathaway Jr. to the Bedford Commercial Bank from 1858 to 1863 and 8 papers related to William Hathaway Jr. and his various whaling expeditions aboard the Benjamin Franklin, Niger, and Propeller in the 1850s. Highlights include a bill of lading for eleven bundles of whale bone collected by him on the ship Propeller ca. June 16, 1858 and legal paperwork concerning the ship Benjamin Franklin and its voyage to the Bush Cape Horn Pidgeon.
1824 ALS from a sailor reporting a whaling ship commanded by Captain J.G. Low that was discovered after being lost at sea for 56 hours. The crew abandoned the ship after being struck by lightning in a storm. After realizing there was no way to stifle the flames, the crew piled into a long boat until another British ship discovered them.
A copy of extracts from the log of the ship Swallow, commanded by Captain William Weeks, recording the amount of sperm whale oil collected from September 9, 1865 to October 20, 1868.
Letter written aboard ship Niger of Honolulu, May 2, 1867. The sailor mentions sending an ivory tusk from Point Hope in the Arctic, which he acquired from the ship’s captain. He notes that it is ... 7 feet long and at the base 18 inches... the question arises how come if there is no such animal exists there now, has the earth capsized or in other words changed its Polarity. Possibly a mastodon/mammoth tusk, which appear fairly regularly in the Arctic. He clearly knew the animal was extinct there.
Abstract of the number of registered, enrolled, and licensed vessels in several ports in Dighton, Massachusetts Customs District in July 1834. Includes the names of 104 ships in six ports in the area, tallied by sloop, schooner, brig, or ship docked at Fall River, Freetown, Berkley, Dighton, Taunton and Somerset.
French bill of lading for the ship La Marie Ann sailing into Roume, Britanny in November 1680. Written entirely in French.
Glass plate negative of ships in a harbor with large casks, most likely filled with whale oil, with a wood sign that reads, Vinegar Bitters. 10 x 8 in.
British and United States Naval documents include:
May 1811 letter from the comptroller’s office clarifying that Lieutenant William Fletcher served aboard the sloop HMS Sophie from November 8, 1809 to May 20, 1811. Signed by the captain.
Disbound ship's log of the HMS Sophie from November 1809 to December 29, 1809 and November 3, 1810 to May 20, 1811, lacking only January 20-28, 1811. Kept by Lieutenant Brown, who recorded the winds, number of signals, latitude/longitude, bearings and distance as well as the status of the ship.
HMS Sophie was an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. During the War of 1812, she captured and destroyed many American small merchant vessels, but failed in an attack on Fort Bowyer, Alabama. Later, she moved to the East Indies and served in the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Admiralty sold Sophie in 1825.
Admeasure bill and other documents for the “Chosen” of Marblehead under the command of Captain Kratt P. Bray, 1804, en route to Sweden. Captains or the ships’ crews could take the document to any port in Sweden for 10 years, per a penciled inscription from a previous owner.
Hughes, Charles. Captain of the HMS Worcester. ALS, 1 p, “Worcester Madras Road.” June 4, 1784. Addressed to the Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy. Hughes sends the monthly books for November and December 1783 as well as the books from January to April 1784 for the ship.
The Worcester was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy launched on October 17, 1769 at Portsmouth. In 1776, Lord Nelson won an acting commission as 4th lieutenant on board. The same year as Hughes’ books, 1783, she participated in the Battle of Cuddalore in the French-Anglo War.
Williams, N.F. ALS, 1 p, “Collectors Office, Baltimore.” July 15, 1843. Addressed to the Collector of Savannah, GA. Williams writes to the collector concerning a bill of lading for the schooner Tom Wood.
Fiske, Bradly A. (1854-1942). Innovator and United States Naval Officer. TLS and ANS, 2 pp, October 21, 1901. Addressed to Admiral O’Neal and Nicolson. The TLS to Nicholson includes a list of commissioned officers and their present rank. In the ANS to O’Neal, Fiske is complaining that he is being considered for a commission as 1st lieutenant of the San Francisco, making the point that men who served less time and/or had less experience than he received higher commissions or served on more "significant" vessels than San Francisco.
Bradly A. Fiske was an officer in the United States Navy, noted as a technical innovator for creating more than 130 electrical and mechanical devices. One invention was the rangefinder, which measured the distance from an observer to a target. In addition to his technical accomplishments, he wrote several books to help the public gain a wider understanding of the modern Navy.
Other miscellaneous papers include: a circular from the Treasury Department dated February 5, 1835 discussing more specific protocol on regulations for exporting gold and silver coin to South America and Spain; TLS from the United States Embassy in London concerning a decision to be made on new battleships, November 9, 1901, signed by Naval Attache, Richardson Clover; an enrollment record of Isaac Newcomb from Quincy, MA aboard the Leui(?) Bates. The document includes information on the ship, such as its construction, materials, etc.; 1846 handbill announcing that James M. Andrews, the proprietor of Hope Harbor and Wharf, is ready to receive merchandise, produce, and goods; and a blue-tinted image of a ship in New Bedford Harbor, with penciled date on verso of 1898.
Provenance: N. Flayderman and Co., Inc.All range in condition. Most are in very good condition with minor toning and typical folds. Some documents have brittle folds and some penciled inscriptions from previous owners.Condition
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