Lot 267

Previous image preload Next image preload

Description:

Superb Whaling Journal with Many Detailed Whale Stamps

Whaling Journal of Captain Henry H. Ricketson of the Ship Chili. A tall folio book, 8" x 12.75", 169 pages of entries (210 pages blank), bound in brown leather, covering a whaling voyage in the Atlantic Ocean from July 10, 1845 to July 27, 1851. The journal contains 24 whale stamps, indicating whales caught, and 10 whale tail stamps, indicating whales chased and lost. Foxing and soiling throughout internal pages. Worm holing in numerous places and on binding. Wear, rubbing and loss at the board edges and spine. Soiling and scratching to outer boards. Sound binding. The corners and spine are bumped.

Henry H. Ricketson (1813-1850), the recorder of the majority of the journal, was listed as "Captain" on the New Bedford, Massachusetts, whaler Chili. Ricketson left the Chili to command the Chase in 1849, before dying in California on September 8, 1850. The Chili was built in Kingston, Massachusetts in 1819 and sailed for nearly fifty years before being sold and broken up in 1864. The journal records information such as the weather, the position of the vessel, the sail she was under, the wind speed and direction, activities of the crew, vessels encountered, and whales seen and taken. The log also includes numerous poems, including several recounting the tragic sinking of the HMS Royal George. Examples of entries are as follows:

"July 27, 1845
Commence with a moderate breeze from west at 1 PM took in the Blackfish at 6PM saw a phinback & hauled for his middle and latter part much the same so ends the day.

December 6, 1845
Commences with moderate breezes from the NWW with all sail set at 35M. Took a lunar observation by observing the distance between the sun and moon middle part wind. Hauled to the W the studding sails on the larboard side at 5AM put them on the other side with the wind to the WWW steering South by West per Compass so ends the day.

December 9, 1845
Calm at 7 saw the Ile if Cape Horn...we are all praying for afed/free wind

December 27, 1845
At 4PM saw Bight whales lowered the Boats and struck and capsized the starboard boat at 7PM

January 9, 1846
At noon saw Bight whales lowered and chaced at 2 took up the boats at 1/2 past 2 lowered the Boats again but met with no suckess at sunset.

January 13, 1846
Kild the whale and bound him along side at 4PM commenced cutting at 7PM got through cleared up the decks and set the watch...at 10AM saw Bight Whales and lowered the boats the waist boat struck at 11 took him alongside.

January 25, 1846
At 1PM the ship Massachusetts saw Sperm Whales and made runs for us. She struck but did not save him we lowered at 4PM and the waist boat struck and killed the whale the Land is in site lay by all night.

February 2, 1846
At 2PM saw Sperm Whales lowered and the waist boat struck and then the starboard boat struck and took them both along side

February 19, 1846
At 5PM saw school of Black Fish lowered the boats the larboard boat struck and starboard boat and then the waist boat all saved this fish.

June 16, 1846
At 4PM saw Bight Whale lowered the boats the larboard boat struck at 7 set in thick fog ste him spouting thick blood and cut and came on board.

At the back of the logbook is a table that records the number of whales struck during the year 1845, along with accounts from the ship. Also included with the logbook is a related letter, four pages, 5.25" x 8", Wethersfield; June 22, 1865. A letter from Eliza A. Williams to a Mr. Fish. Eliza was the wife of Thomas W. Williams, who served as 2nd mate aboard the Chili.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We do our own in-house worldwide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses who proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with signature required, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice, unless you inform us otherwise, immediately upon your receipt of invoice***

International shipments: In order to comply with our insurance provider, all international shipments will be sent via Fed Ex and customs paperwork will show a value of $1.00. International buyers should contact our office directly with any questions regarding this policy.

Third Party Shipping Option: If a third party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third party Please copy and paste this following link into your browser: http://universityarchives.com/UserFiles/ShippingInfo.pdf. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third party shippers.


After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item.


Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

June 24, 2020 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of up to 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000