Manuscripts of Early National and Antebellum America

1vol., 33 cm., 150 leaves, with 103 pages of manuscript in the author's hand. A volume containing logs of two separate voyages, kept by Alfred Whitney as first officer, and subsequently captain, of the commercial brig Pheasant of New York, and as captain of the brig Nestor of Bridgeport. Log entries for the Pheasant appear for most days from 8 February to 22 June and 10 to 24 July 1830. The Pheasant departed New York on 18 February bound for Bahia (in Brazil) and Buenos Aires, where she arrived on 21 May. On her return voyage, under Whitney, she was damaged in a storm off the River Plate and forced to put in to St. Catherine's (Brazil), where both the ship and its remaining cargo were sold at public auction. The log entries include the usual nautical particulars as well as actions of the ship's company and (when in port) details of the loading and unloading of stores and cargo. In addition to these daily entries, the volume contains the ship's accounts with fifteen officers and crew, as well as financial records pertaining to the sale of the Pheasant at St. Catherine's. There are also copies of five letters written by Whitney from 25 August to 30 October 1830, mostly to the ship's owners, George Douglass & Co. The second voyage chronicled in the volume took the brig Nestor, under Whitney, from Bridgeport to Demerara (now Guyana) and back. There are log entries for every day at sea (18 July to 17 August and 3 to 28 September, 1836), though there are no "civil" entries for time in port. MSN/EA 4702-1-B.

1 vol., 33 cm., 36 leaves, with 70 pages of manuscript entries in a single hand. A logbook kept by an unidentified seaman aboard an American whaler, the brig Meridian (Capt. Ricketson), of Wareham, Massachusetts. Entries were made on a daily basis throughout Meridian's voyage, from 1 October 1839 to 27 July 1840. Meridian sailed west to the Canaries, south to Brazil, and home by way of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Entries include position, wind and weather, and information on navigation and activities aboard ship. The author also describes the sighting and killing of whales, and a near mutiny off the coast of Brazil (19 January 1840). MSN/EA 4704-1-B. [Finding Aid]

1 vol., 34 cm., 20 leaves, with 37 pages of manuscript entries, mostly in a single hand. A logbook kept by an unidentified individual aboard the American whalers Corvo and Enterprise, off the southern coast of South America, in 1840-41. Entries begin in mid-voyage, and appear regularly from 6 October 1840 to 17 May 1841; they typically include the weather, longitude and latitude, and, on occasion, mention of the sighting and killing of whales. The keeper of the log was aboard Corvo from October to February, when he transferred to Enterprise in the Falkland Islands (both ships appear to have been owned by F. Pendleton Co. of Stonington, Connecticut). He returned to Corvo in April. The log breaks off as it began, with the vessel at sea. MSN/EA 4703-1-B. [Finding Aid]

4 documents, partly printed. A group of four bills of lading itemizing goods transported in four separate voyages between America and Britain in 1853. MSN/EA 4700-1 to MSN/EA 4700-4.

1 vol., 36 cm., 67 leaves, with 131 pages of entries, mostly in the hand of James G. Crocker. Logbook of a voyage of the extreme clipper ship Raven, with daily entries from 28 August 1855 to 13 June 1856. Under the command of Captain Josiah Crocker, Raven sailed east from Richmond, Virginia to Sydney, Australia (103 days); she then proceeded to Padang in Sumatra (37 days) before returning westward to New York (80 days). The log was kept by James G. Crocker, whose status is unidentified but who was very likely first officer. The log records the ship's speed in knots for each hour of the day, as well as the ship's course and the direction of the wind. In a "Remarks" column Crocker notes specifics of wind and weather, the putting on and taking off of sail, tasks performed by each watch, the loading and unloading of cargo, and many other matters besides. Folios 66r to 67r contain diagrams of the Raven's sails, drawn by her sailmaker, John Roberson. MSN/EA 4701-1-B.