Seven Bound Logs and Ledgers Hand Written by Captains John and Oliver Eldridge of Boston, Accounts of the Operation & Life Onboard the Merchant Vessels Ship HUNTSMAN Between New York and New Orleans, 1827-1828; Ship ROCSIUS 1833-1834 Voyage From Boston to Calcutta, New York, St. Petersburg and Home; Bark COQUETTE from Boston to Calcutta and China, with repeat visits to the Far East Ports, 1841-1843, 1844-1845; A Cash Accounts Ledger from 1842-1846; a Ledger of Copies of Written Correspondence Sent Via Ship to Invested Parties Back in Boston and New York.
Direct from the hand of Captains John and Oliver Eldridge come exceptional written accounts of the second quarter of the 19th century while commanding merchant cargo vessels out of Boston and New York around the world.
Both captains penmanship is exceptionally clear and stylized, yet it is the content's wealth of important information which provides these artifacts with their greatest value to any student of American maritime and naval history. Beyond keeping the necessary ritual of recording the weather, location and activity to maintain his vessels, Oliver in particular writes a telling record of the notorious Opium Trade between Calcutta and China in the 1840s account, with coded symbols and clear listings of several involved parties and the methods of operation in the smuggled drug trade. Blended within are his personal notes on the activities of his ships and crews under him, including a few prominent passengers and the harsh reality of life working at sea.
Historically, ship captains are almost universally stereotyped as hard, cruel leaders, holding an iron command to maintain order and discipline. Eldridge's comments expose his true compassion and concern for the passengers, crew, and always the ship in his responsibility.
A 1841 departure from New Orleans has Eldridge facing an Atlantic hurricane that very nearly ends his ship and his life, and the efforts faced in repairing the ship to function and barely making way to safety after the storm.
In the 1844-45 account Eldridge lists the "chests of Opium" being delivered amongst the cargo of grains and items. Only the briefest of examinations revealing these accounts, much, much remains to be mined from this unique and valuable written observations and correspondence from two American captains in the 19th Century.
This record is of undoubtably historic value and deserves to be further investigated and preserved as part of the epoch of American Shipping history.
Seven Hard Bound Volumes with Mostly Good, Fair and Poor Condition Bindings, Approximately 125 Pages, 125 Pages, 120 Pages, 120 Pages, 80 Pages, 60 Pages, and 75 Pages Compromising 85 Copies of Letters By Oliver Eldridge from Rio de Janiero, Macao, Calcutta, and Shanghai.
