With summer quickly approaching our thoughts in Rhode Island turn to the sea. For many, our thoughts are always with the sea. Some of the most exciting material at the Rhode Island Historical Society is contained in our Ships’ Logbook Collection [MSS 828]. Whether they document the chase of the Privateer, the gears of the triangle trade and slavery or the quixotic hunt of the whaler, the logbooks detail the daily experiences of the lives upon each ship for that focused period of time.
But mostly they record the weather. Well the wind specifically. And for good reason–in the age of sail the weather determined your fate at sea. But in between the descriptions of large swells, gales and “fogy calm” there are occasional drawings such as this one we found following an entry for 11 October 1748 in the logbook of the Brig Cumberland.
Logbooks take the reader on the voyage. But they also symbolize that the author made it safely home to deposit the book.
In 1833, John Hutchens (1794?-1833) was a young bookseller making his way in Providence. He was only close to 30 when he died, but full of new ideas such as this blank logbook “published and sold wholesale and retail, by John Hutchens, 1 Market Street (first door west of the bridge.)” The book of blank forms was printed by Edward and J.W. Cory who were book and job printers at 9 Market Square. It contains charts for recording wind, direction, location, depth and “occurences” of the day.
~Phoebe Bean, Librarian