California nautical (7 risultati)

A group of 13 Gold Rush-era shipping documents recording the import of international goods to the port of San Francisco between 1849 and 1857. The news of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1847 lured more than 300,000 people from the rest of the United States and abroad to San Francisco, which then had a population of just 459 residents. These new emigrants brought only small amounts of goods with them, and there was little farming in California to support the '49ers. Most American merchants who sold provisions and amenities during the California Gold Rush dealt in imported goods such as dried fish and beef jerky, canvas and clothing, tools, lumber, candles, coffee and livestock from points abroad. One invoice, dated May 3, 1850, is for 100 tons of coal shipped from Duffryn Steam Coal in Liverpool to G.W. Aspinwall, a prominent businessman and co-founder of both the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and Panama Canal Railway companies, which revolutionized the migration of goods and people to the West Coast. Another four-page handwritten invoice in this group, dated September 15, 1849, lists sundries shipped on the Steamer Clyde from Jamaica to the merchants Jewett and Melhado in San Francisco. It includes cases of jams, jellies, pickles, Brandy, seasoning salt, and more. In addition to supplying miners, Jewett and Melhado provided monthly reports in the Alta California newspaper on the price and flow of goods in Northern California. Other receipts record everything from the import of cigars to bales of twine and canvas cloth.…

A logbook of accounts kept by Captain Elbert Stannard for two of the ships he commanded out of the port of San Francisco in the late 1850s and '60s, the Bark Mallory and the Bark Daniel Webster. The latter was sold in 1861 to the government of Japan and became the first warship in the Japanese navy. The account book contains 22 pages related to the Bark Mallory and approximately 70 pages of accounts concerning the Daniel Webster. On the first page is written: "Bark Mallory in Account with E. Stannard". The blue-lined pages are written on in ink and pencil. Much of the spine has perished, the marbled boards are detached, and it appears a few pages have been removed from the logbook. The accounts concerning the Daniel Webster are dated between 1859 and 1861 and begin with the cost of repairs for its voyage from New York to San Francisco. It then traveled to Victoria and Perth from San Francisco and traveled from San Francisco to Shanghai and Kanagawa, Japan and back. According to newspaper records, Stannard (18281907) was in command of the first steamboat to enter Japanese and Chinese waters, trading between these ports and San Francisco. He made his home in Westbrook, Connecticut. Historical records indicate the Bark Mallory had been plying the coastal trade since the 1850s. The ship was hired by Snohomish Mills to transport lumber from Washington to San Francisco since there was not enough demand in the local lumber trade. On one of her voyages, the Mallory took on water near Cape Flattery and was beached at Neah Bay. The windfall of lumber wound up in many local buildings. The log from 1857 for the Bark Mallory includes a line for payment of "Chinamen pumping" for $18.50. By 1848, when the first Chinese arrived in San Francisco, they had already established a pattern of leaving China to work in other parts of the world. This logbook also contains an untitled handwritten 2 ½ page poem about mining with no attribution. …

Handwritten memoir (35 pp.) handwritten by an unknown person concerning their voyage from New York to California in 1849-50 during the Gold Rush. This narrative is written in three draft chapters and covers the voyage from New York to Bermuda, where the writer's ship underwent extensive repair. The writer was a passenger on the Powhatan, which left New York on December 12, 1849. Although he was cautioned at the docks about the ship's seaworthiness, the writer was assured by the Captain, Benjamin Ward Tucker (181487), that all would be fine. However, when they were a few days out to sea, it was apparent the boat was leaking. "It turned out that no real danger existed or was likely to occur on account of the 'leak'", according to the narrative. "The 'caulking' as it is termed with which these seams are filled was rotten, the coppering was worn out and this would cause any vessel to leak though comparatively new in all other respects. It was well however that we were strong handed as it required 1200 strokes of the pumps per hour to keep the ship free." The Captain continued the six-day voyage to Bermuda, where they arrived on December 18. The company that owned the boat attempted to get it condemned, but the Captain insisted on the repairs; they were in Bermuda for 40 days. The ship was recalked and coppered throughout, and her running rigging was overhauled. Because no dry dock was available, there is a detailed explanation about how the Captain was able to move the boat close enough to shore and tip it, so the keel was exposed. All the expenses of the passengers were paid while they were in Bermuda. We have not been able to determine whether this Powhatan is the ship of the same name that sank off the shore of New Jersey in 1854, resulting in the loss of hundreds of passengers, mostly German immigrants. During their stay on the small island of St. David's in Bermuda, the writer encountered Scottish soldiers who were stationed nearby. "Excepting the honor of our presence, I do not know that (St. David's) was ever enough distinguished for anything to make it worthy a place even in these rambling reminiscences. The soil of the Bermuda is not naturally good, only hollows of their broken surfaces being used to cultivation, all the rest is bare coral rock." One of the chapters includes a lengthy description of leaving the port of Bermuda under the direction of a "pilot" they were forced to hire who was drunk and nearly ran them aground. There are also descriptions of passengers, including one who snuck aboard and was caught. This is followed by allusions to a one-sided passionate affair involving the stow-way and a married German woman (Mrs. Wibbard) who brought barrels of sauerkraut for the voyage to California, where she and her new husband planned to open a boarding house. One of the drafts ends as the author is about to relate the story of a storm at sea. None of the chapters recall reaching San Francisco. The language is verbose and flowery, and the writer often trails off on tangents concerning everything from sea sickness to hats. The manuscript pages are written on legal size white paper in black ink. There is some toning to the pages and general edgewear, along with rust from a paper clip. Overall, quite legible and very good.…

A group of 18 Landing Certificates containing the "Oath of the Master and Mate" and recording the type and amount of goods that arrived at the Port of Victoria from San Francisco in 1863. The documents contain signatures of various ship captains, crew, and consuls. Some contain official seals and tax stamps. Goods range from 100 cases of whiskey to cases of clothing, refined sugar, and opera glasses. Each of the documents is signed by Allen Francis (1815-1886), the U.S. Consul at Victoria, Vancouver Island, who was appointed to the post in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. He held the post throughout the American Civil War. At this time, consuls were appointed to every major foreign port and played an important role for American ships in foreign ports. Before Francis appointment, there had never been a consulate on the Pacific Coast of British North America. But once the war was underway, British and U.S. relations deteriorated, and President Lincoln needed a trusted representative to keep a vigilant eye on the British governor and Southern sympathizers on Vancouver Island and in British Columbia. "Francis's activities far exceeded the normal responsibilities of such a political office. He maintained a network of spies in Victoria employed to keep him abreast of any pro-Confederate activity on either Vancouver Island or in British Columbia, with its transitory population of American miners from the now-divided states." (James Robbins Jewell, Thwarting Southern Schemes and British Bluster in the Pacific Northwest, University of California Press, 2015). The documents are generally legal size, printed in black on lightweight white or light blue paper, with handwritten information. Some general edgewear, mild toning, and creases from prior folds.…

Very good. Trimmed margins and some centerfold discoloration; fine, crisp engraving. Expert repairs. Size 20.5 x 28 Inches. This magnificent sea chart was prepared by Robert Dudley c. 1647 for publication in his Dell'arcano del mare , one of the most important maritime atlases of all time. It is most notable for being the earliest published sea chart to focus on California. A Closer Look The chart adopts a rare geographical scope extending from Central America to northwestern South America, including both a detailed depiction of the West Indies and South Florida, as well as an inset of the coast of California. It offers a wealth of coastline information, including place names, shoals, currents, and winds. This is especially true in the West Indies around Cuba and off the Florida coast. The title of the chart is found in a simple, elegant cartouche in the interior of Peru. California Coast The large inset of California is important in and of itself. The map is curious for its mixture of Spanish and Portuguese toponymy and for the appearance of an enormous and fictitious bay labeled 'Golfo Profondo,' together with a note: 'This gulf has recently been reported as very large but has not been well explored.' At the north end of the gulf is 'Capo Engaño,' the Cape of Disappointment, so named because it was at this latitude that Spanish explorers expected to find the north end of the Island of California. The chart discusses divergent opinions on the correct latitude of Cape Mendocino, which it plots at about 43º N latitude, but includes a note stating: 'Some believe Cape Mendocino is at 41º N Latitude.' The actual latitude of the cape is just above 40º N. Among the important coastal cities and bays are 'P. dell nuovo Albion scoperro dal Drago C. Inglese' (Point New Albion discovered by the English Captain Drake), 'P. di Moneerei' (Monterey Bay; plotted just below 37º N latitude), the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara, and 'P. di S. Diego' (San Diego; plotted just below 35º N latitude. A large Quivira - the legendary city said to possess enormous wealth - which by this time had captured the imaginations of Europeans for over a century, and would persist on maps for the rest of the 17th century, is placed inland. California as an Island? Dudley is ambiguous as to the insularity of California. While a right angle and jutting eastward line immediately above Cape Mendocino suggests he is following the Briggs model Island of California, Leighly points out that Dudley's map follows the nomenclature of the Daniell map, which is thought to have been based on the official map of Sebastián Vizcaíno's 1602 voyage, which did not posit an island. Publication History and Census This chart was prepared by Englishman Robert Dudley, then residing in Florence, and was engraved by Antonio Francesco Lucini c. 1647 in Dell'arcano del mare . This map is scarce, only being independently cataloged in the OCLC among the holdings of the University of Michigan and the Biblioteca Nacional de España, while the entire Dell'arcano del mare is somewhat more widely distributed, though still quite rare. References: Wagner, H. R., The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the Year 1800, #350. cf. Leighly pp. 36-7; Wendt, Plate 10. OCLC 879247783, 431588327.…

Good. Mounted on linen. Some small areas of infill. Some cracking and creasing. Size 35.75 x 42 Inches. This is a 1903 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey nautical chart or map of San Francisco Bay, California. A Closer Look Coverage embraces from Duxbury Point east to Bay Farm Island and from Pt. San Pedro south to San Bruno Mountain, San Francisco Bay appears in detail. Innumerable depth soundings are noted, along with islands, points, rocks, and other navigation landmarks and hazards. Navigation lights are highlighted in hand color. San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda are illustrated and labeled. Each city's street grid is illustrated, and black squares mark buildings. The South Pacific Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad are illustrated and labeled in the East Bay. Golden Gate Park is exceptionally well depicted in San Francisco. Information concerning lights, tides, soundings, and storm warnings occupy the upper left. Publication History and Census This map was created and published by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in December 1903 during the superintendency of Otto Tittmann. We note a single cataloged example of the 1903 edition in OCLC, which is part of the collection at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats - und Unviersitätsbibliothek Dresden. References: OCLC 315833824.…

1st Edition. Very good. Relaid on fresh linen. Tracks of voyages marked in pencil. Size 27 x 58 Inches. The 1849 first edition, published for the California Gold Rush, of the James Imray blueback nautical map of the coast of California. This map, by Imray, predates any American charts of the California coast and, when it was issued, was the best obtainable chart for ambitious 49ers en route to the gold regions. A Closer Look Oriented to the west, coverage embraces the California coast from roughly Cape Corrientes in Mexico north to Trinidad Bay, California, including all of Baja and the Gulf of California. Insets detail San Francisco Bay, Monterey, Magdalen Bay, Mazatlan, Guaymas, and the entrance to San Francisco Harbor (Golden Gate). On the peninsula, the Mission de San Francisco and the fortifications at the Presidio are noted, but no further settlement or construction is evident. Moreover, while this map does not delineate the Gold Regions, it does show the Sacramento River outlet into San Pablo Bay, the water route which many fortune-seekers followed to the gold fields. As a working nautical chart, this map includes pencil annotations related to at least two voyages, one from Mexico to San Francisco (likely a Gold Rush Run) and another that heads out to sea. There is some manuscript labeling, but it is mostly unreadable. It also, curiously, includes a correction regarding the location of Socorro Island. The California Gold Rush The discovery of gold at John Sutter's mill by James Wilson Marshall (1810 - 1885) in January 1848 was one of the most definitive moments in American history. Coming at the end of the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848), the timing of the discovery could not have been more propitious. The combination of new seemingly unlimited territory and the lure of gold led to a stampede of adventurers, prospectors, merchants, and homesteaders eager for a new life on the frontier. The Gold Rush was not limited to Americans crossing the Great Plains. European, Australian, and even Chinese immigrants rushed into California hungry for their part of the great strike. This Great Migration transformed the United States in the span of just a few years from a former colony into an expansive transcontinental nation on the cusp of becoming a world power. Blueback Charts Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to wrap unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 chart issued by Mount and Page and a 1787 chart issued by Robert Sayer. The tradition took off in the early 19th century, when British publishers like John Hamilton Moore, Robert Blachford, James Imray, William Heather, John William Norie, Charles Wilson, David Steel, R. H. Laurie, and John Hobbs, among others, rose to dominate the chart trade. Bluebacks became so popular that the convention was embraced by chartmakers outside of England, including Americans Edmund March Blunt and George Eldridge, as well as Scandinavian, French, German, Russian, and Spanish chartmakers. Blueback charts remained popular until the late 19th century, when government-subsidized organizations like the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office and the United States Coast Survey began issuing their own superior charts on high-quality paper that did not require reinforcement. Publication History and Census This map was published by James Imray in 1849. It is the first edition, almost certainly compiled in a hurry to take advantage of interest in the California Gold Rush. It is, of note, 'Chart No. 8', referring to the final.…