Maritime Compass

December's new titles in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2012-01-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

Here are the Library's lists of new acquisitions for December. For more information on any title, contact us or search our catalogs:

Library new accessions, December 1-15, 2011 (.pdf file, 32 Kb)
Library new accessions, December 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 23 Kb)

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Digging for Gold at the Library: Jeannette

2012-01-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

(by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

As winter settles in San Francisco, my mind turns towards all things cold. Arctic exploration is the coldest thing one can do, save for streaking on Pluto. The brave adventurers who set out to the literal ends of the earth to explore frozen landscapes have always been a great interest of mine. What would make someone decide this was a good idea when so few ended well? It's more than the urge to push physical limitations or to be the first at something. No, there must be so much more than the desire for glory or the push of curiosity. I just hope it never calls to me because frankly, I'm freezing right now and it's only about 50 degrees outside. I believe I am half reptile because laying on a hot rock in the sun is way more my style than scrambling over ice shelves, but still--I love to read about polar exploits while wrapped in a blanket safely ensconced in an armchair by the fire.

While perusing our polar section, I came across this wonderful spine:

And cover:

For those who don't know, The Jeannette left San Francisco in 1879 with a crew made up of naval personnel and a few civilians in order to reach the North Pole. Things did not go as planned; when do they in the arctic? Only a handful of her crew were rescued in 1881 after an arduous trek over land and in open sea. Here's a brief account of the expedition.

I've heard of the Jeannette before, but I haven't read anything in depth about her. This book looks to be perfect introduction as it's a combination of personal narratives, documents, and beautiful engravings. Here's one of the ship being abandoned:

Engraving of ship Jeannette being abandoned"id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699014355014745618" />

It certainly must be the most wretched feeling in the world to see your ship crushed before you. Lieutenant Danenhower, the ship's navigator, had this to say of her sinking:

It was said that the ice first closed upon her, then relaxing allowing the wreck to sink; the yards caught across the ice and broke off, but being held by the lifts and braces were carried down; depth, thirty-eight fathoms, as I remember. The next morning the captain and others visited the spot and found only one cabin chair and a few pieces of wood--all that remained of our old and good friend, the Jeanette, which for many months had endured the embrace of the Arctic monster. (p. 206).

So while winter roars around you, and you retreat to the comforts of woolen socks and knitted scarves, remember those who have endured the embrace of the arctic monster and raise your cocoa mug to them.

Source: Newcomb, Raymond Lee; Bliss, Richard W. Our lost explorers : the narrative of the Jeannette Arctic expedition as related by the survivors, and in the records and last journals of Lieutenant De Long. Hartford : American Publishing Co., 1883, c1882.

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Digging for Gold at the Library: Ways of the Sea

2012-01-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

(by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

Usually in my posts, I write about hidden or overlooked items in our collection. With a library as rich in material as ours, it's easy for little gems to be lost in the shelves. But sometimes, it's a good idea to trot out an old favorite and give it its due. If you aren't familiar with The Ways of the Sea by Charles G. Davis, then allow me to introduce you to your newest oldest best friend. This slim volume (179 pages of roomy print) is a mixture of encyclopedia, primer, yarns and good old fashioned advice. Reading it is like sitting down at the kitchen table with your sailor uncle--the one who's been everywhere and seen everything and knows just the way to reel in a curious mind. Here's a description of a poker game that was happened upon by a visiting crew in the middle of a chapter about binnacles (on p. 20). It's crammed with wonderful imagery and meaty tidbits about a sailor's life:

A cloud of smoke and smell came out that would have looked as if the entire forecastle were on fire in the daylight. Even in the dim light of the anchor light hanging on her forestay I could see it pouring out. As I climbed down the vertical forecastle ladder I could hear a crowd of men (smell them for that matter, there was no ventilation) and only when I got below the smoke line could I see that there was a game of poker going on with a highly excited crowd watching.

"Hello, you Wrights," was the greeting our boys got as we all landed below. For sailors were called by the name of the ship they came from in those times. And then the gang turned to watch the hand of poker finished.

The Dana's forecastle was the old style, built away up in the "eyes of her" or up on the bow under the deck. Big husky men half stripped--for it was close and hot down there with over twenty men packed into one small room--lay in their bunks; some sat on the edges of them with their legs hanging over and smoking "tar heel" tobacco. Those playing cards with a seachest for a table sat on upturned deck buckets or long sailmaker's benches.

An old coffee pot slush lamp, smoking like a bonfire of green leaves, gave out an uncertain flickering light like a lighthouse in a fog.

Whether you want to or not, you can smell it.

The short, easy to read chapters cover such divergent things as lights, washing down decks, stowing anchors and painting a ship at sea. This is the kind of book that answers questions you didn't know you had, which are my favorite kind of questions. In fact my only criticism of the book is that he sometimes begins intriguing tidbits that he doesn't follow up on. I'd like the book to be twice as long.

The library has two copies available, so come on down and learn a little bit more about the ways of the sea.

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Cold Eggs Muscovite

2011-12-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

This recipe from The Captain's Table : 18 recipes for famous dishes served aboard the S.S. United States and S.S. America follows the one for Porterhouse Soup, and is introduced with the declaration, "Any egg would be proud and happy to end up looking like this."

Wow!

The recipe:

Slice off both ends of 6 hard-cooked eggs. Around the top, middle, and bottom of each egg wrap 3 anchovy filets, to resemble the hoops of a barrel. Put a small slice of truffle in the middle of each egg, to represent the bung of a barrel. Stand the eggs upright and carefully scoop out the yolks. Fill the centers with caviar, shaping it in a peak at the top of the eggs. Stand each egg in a cooked white artichoke bottom, and arrange the eggs in a circle on a platter. Garnish eggs and center of the platter with finely chopped aspic. Serves 6.

Since I had never heard of Eggs Muscovite, I did a little searching, and found an interesting variant recipe, "Truffled Eggs a la Muscovite," in The Boston Cooking School magazine of culinary science and domestic economics, Volume 15 (1911), in the "Seasonal Recipes" section by Janet M. Hill, p. 329-330:

Have as many rounds of toast, two inches and one-half in diameter, as there are persons to serve. Spread the toast, while hot, with butter. When cold spread with caviare mixed with a few drops of lemon juice. The smallest sized can of caviare and a teaspoonful of lemon juice will be enough for eight rounds. For each service have ready a small, cold, hard-cooked egg, from which the shell has been removed. Cut a slice from the rounding end of each egg, that it may stand level. To three fourths a cup of mayonnaise dressing beat in one-fourth a cup of consomme, in which a scant tablespoonful of gelatine has been softened and dissolved. When added to the dressing the gelatine mixture must be liquid but not hot. Roll the eggs in the mixture to coat completely, then set one on each round; or set the eggs in place and with a silver knife spread the dressing over them; sprinkle with chopped truffles, or garnish with four or more figures cut from slices of truffles, or leave plain. Chill thoroughly before serving as an appetizer at luncheon or dinner. Three fourths a cup of white sauce, made of rich chicken broth (or half cream), may replace the mayonnaise.

This recipe is accompanied by an image:

What to do with the leftover cooked egg yolks? Many cookbooks suggest them crumbled over salads--sounds delicious!

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SF Maritime NHP Library's holiday hours

2011-12-15T15:15:00.001-08:00

The Library will have special hours during the holiday season:

The Library will be closed, Friday, Dec. 23 and Monday, Dec. 26, 2011.
The Library will be available by appointment only 1:00-5:00pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 27-29, 2011.
The Library will be closed Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 and Monday, Jan. 2, 2012.
Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012

Details on our regular hours can be found on our Plan Your Research page, with more information on our policies and procedures in our Collections FAQ.

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Researching America's Cup

2011-12-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

In 2012 and 2013, San Francisco will be hosting multiple America's Cup events--want to learn more?

Our reference staff have written a ten page pathfinder (Adobe Acrobat .pdf file, 1.5 Mb) to help you find information on the America's Cup, on the hosting yacht clubs, and on the history of San Francisco Bay racing. Included are links to websites, bibliographic references to publications available in our and other collections, as well as citations to relevant documentary, photographic, and plans collections available in the Park, and even relevant objects held in our Museum Collections. Want to find films? They're listed there, too.

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-12-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

The library's lists of new accessions for November are here--for more information on any title, contact us or search our catalogs:

November 1-15, 2011 (.pdf file, 32 Kb)
November 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 23 Kb)

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Oceans of Information...

2011-12-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check out the lead article in the Dec./Jan./Feb. 2011-2012 issue of the Park's Maritime News, "Oceans of Information in the Maritime Library" by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian.

Illustrated with images from the Park's collections, the article includes catalog search hints and describes the broad range of research assistance available to you.

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Porterhouse Soup

2011-11-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

Today we bring you another recipe from The Captain's Table : 18 recipes for famous dishes served aboard the S.S. United States and S.S. America. This is another dish that was served in the dining rooms aboard the S.S. United States, which has been adapted for the home kitchen--it not only gives us a glimpse into what was served underway, but a look at mid-20th century recipes for the home cook. Contemporary recipes are usually presented with ingredients lists followed by the cooking directions, and serve considerably less than twenty!

Porterhouse Soup

Have butcher bone a 3-pound shin of beef and a 3-pound shin of veal and cut the bones into very small pieces. Spread the bones in a roasting pan and sprinkle them with a little beef dripping. Roast the bones in a hot oven (400 degrees F), stirring occasionally, until the bones are golden brown. Put the bones in a large kettle. To the roasting pan add a 3- to 4-pound fowl, cut into serving pieces, 1/2 pound lean ham, cut in 1/2-inch pieces, and the boned veal and beef, cut in 1/2-inch pieces. Roast the meat and fowl in a hot oven (400 degrees F) until it is nicely browned. Add the meat and fowl to the kettle. In the roasting pan saute 1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped, 1/2 cup sliced carrots, 2 onions, 2 stalks of celery, 1 leek, and 1 parsnip, all coarsely chopped, and 2 garlic cloves, crushed, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are well browned and have absorbed the glaze from the pan. Sprinkle the vegetables with 1-1/2 cups flour and stir in 8 quarts chicken, beef, or veal stock. Bring to a boil and pour it over the meat and bones in the kettle. Add 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, and thyme, marjoram, basil, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, skimming constantly until no scum rises to the surface. Lower the heat, cover the kettle, and simmer the soup for 1-1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Strain the soup, measure it, and, for each quart, add 1 glass Madeira or Sherry. Serve the soup hot, garnished with julienne of mushrooms, truffles, quenelles, or small meatballs. Serves 20.

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Two Steamers Crossing

2011-11-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

"NOTE--This is the position of greatest danger; there is nothing for it but good lookout, caution and judgment, with prompt action.

If to your starboard RED appears
It is your duty to keep clear;
To act as judgment says is proper;
To Port--or to Starboard--Back--or Stop her!

But when upon your Port is seen
A steamer's Starboard light of GREEN,
There's not so much for you to do,
For GREEN to port keeps clear of you.

All ships must keep a good lookout and steamships must stop and go astern if necessary.

Both in safety and in doubt,
Always keep a good lookout;
In danger, with no room to turn,
Ease her! Stop her! Go astern!"

Another instructive rhyme from Nautical Nursery Rhymes, by Billy Ringbolt, which resides in the Peterson, Peter H. (Capt.) Papers, (SAFR 18665, HDC 571).

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-11-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the Library's lists of new accessions for October; for more information on any title, contact us or search our catalogs:

Library new accessions, October 1-15, 2011 (.pdf file, 32 Kb)
Library new accessions, October 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 23 Kb)

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Stone Boat Yard...

2011-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

...that's who they were, and that's what we've called them...NOT! (Finding the forgotten partners of the Stone Family boatyards.)

By Sara Diamond, Archivist.

Sometimes a simple fact checking exercise leads to surprising discoveries. That's what happened when I was wrapping up the final details of one of our newer collections, the Jack Ehrhorn collection of Stone Boat Yard naval architectural drawings (HDC1611, SAFR 22826).

I decided to double check the business addresses of the boatyards W. Frank Stone operated in Tiburon from 1893 until 1899, and at Harbor View, in San Francisco, from 1899-1911. Imagine my surprise when I was unable to find a listing for W.F. Stone boatyard in either the San Francisco City Directory or in the Marin County Directory. What I found instead were two previously unacknowledged business partners.

From 1853 until 1975 three generations of the Stone family built some of the most celebrated wooden work, pleasure and racing craft to come from the shores of San Francisco Bay; and until 2004, Stone Boat Yard continued to carry the family name and legacy under new ownership. As the businesses grew and evolved over 141 years, William Isaac Stone, his son W. Frank Stone, and his grandson Lester F. Stone opened and closed boatyards in two San Francisco locations, in Tiburon (Marin), and on both sides of the Oakland-Alameda estuary. In the Historic Documents Department we refer to these boatyards by the shorthand "Stone Boat Yard," and more formally as the W. I. Stone boatyard, the W. F. Stone boatyard, the W. F. Stone & Son boatyard, and finally, as the Stone Boat Yard. These names reflect the history of primary ownership change and were, we assumed, the correct and incorporated business names. Our assumptions were wrong.

I've found a Swann amidst the ducklings of Tiburon. From 1893 to 1899 Frank Stone operated a boatbuilding yard on Beach Street in Tiburon in 1893, in partnership with someone only identified as Swann, and the business was called Stone & Swann. Who was Swann? I don't know! The only information I have comes from a business card which was duplicated on page 62 of James Heig's Pictorial History of Tiburon (San Francisco: 1984). Do you know who Mr. or Ms. Swann was? If so, please leave a comment.

Another heretofore unknown individual person was Edgar N. Van Bergen, Frank Stone's business partner at Harbor View in San Francisco, where they did business as Stone & Van Bergen from 1899 until 1911. After his stint in the shipbuilding business, Edgar Van Bergen became the general manager of a liquor wholesaler on Battery St. in San Francisco. Edgar's path through San Francisco can be followed in the pages of Crocker & Langley's San Francisco City Directories. Do you know anything more about Edgar? If you do, please let us know on the comment page.

I guess the cold fog and sharp wind got on Frank Stone's nerves. In 1912 he moved his home and business to the sunnier side of the bay where he owned and operated a shipyard in partnership with his son, Lester, until his death in 1924. W.F. Stone & Son built wooden boats along the shores of the estuary in Oakland from 1912 to 1941, and in Alameda from 1941 to 1975.

You can find out more about this collection by looking at the finding aid on the Online Archive of California.

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Alaska Packers Association Fleet List

2011-10-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ted Miles and Ed LeBlanc have compiled a list of the names and rigs of the Alaska Packers Association vessels. Please note that the number of masts are indicated with the abbreviation "m," e.g., "3m" is a 3 masted vessel, and "4m" is a 4 masted vessel. Former names are listed with the prefix "ex-..." and sources for the list are at the end. All the sources are available in the Library, as is information on the vessels--contact us to learn more!

Names and Rigs of Alaska Packers Association Vessels

Star of Alaska (now Balclutha) under sail, undated, J7.90n (SAFR 21374)

Iron and steel sailing vessels:

Star of Alaska (built 1886, ship 3m), ex-Balclutha (ship 3m)
Star of Bengal (built 1874, ship 3m)
Star of Chile (built 1878, bark 3m), ex-Coalinga (bark 3m), ex-La Escocesa (ship 3m)
Star of England (built 1893, bark 3m), ex-Abby Palmer (bark 3m), ex-Blairmore (ship 3m)
Star of Falkland (built 1892, ship 3m), ex-Arapahoe (ship 3m), ex-Northern Light (ship 3m), ex-Steinbeck (ship 3m), ex-Durbridge (ship 3m)
Star of Finland (built 1899, bark, 3m), ex-Kaiulani (bark 3m)
Star of France (built 1877, ship 3m)
Star of Greenland (built 1892, bark 3m), ex-Hawaiian Isles (bark 4m)
Star of Holland (built 1885, bark 3m), ex-Homeward Bound (bark 3m), ex-Zemandar (ship 3m)
Star of Iceland (built 1896, bark 3m), ex-Willscott (bark 3m)
Star of India (built 1863, bark 3m), ex-Euterpe (ship 3m)
Star of Italy (built 1877, bark 3m, formerly ship 3m)
Star of Lapland (built 1902, bark 4m), ex-Atlas (bark 4m)
Star of Peru (built 1863, bark 3m), ex-Himalaya (bark 3m)
Star of Poland (built 1902, bark 4m), ex-Acme (bark 4m)
Star of Russia (built 1874, ship 3m)
Star of Scotland (built 1887, bark 4m), ex-Kenilworth (bark 4m)
Star of Shetland (built 1899, bark 4m), ex-Edward Sewall (bark 4m)
Star of Zealand (built 1899, bark 4m), ex-Astral (bark 4m)

Wooden sailing vessels:

Bohemia (built 1875, ship 3m)
Centennial (built 1875, barkentine 4m, formerly ship 3m)
Electra (built 1868, bark 3m)
George Schofield (built 1870, ship 3m)
Indiana (built 1876, ship 3m)
James A. Broland (built 1869, bark 3m)
Llewelyn J. Morse (built 1877, ship 3m)
Morem (built 1870, ship 3m)
Metha Nelson (built 1896, schooner 3m)
Nicholas Thayer (built 1868, bark 3m)
Premier (built 1876, schooner 3m)
Prosper (built 1892, schooner 3m)
Servia (built 1883, ship 3m)
Tacoma (built 1881, ship 3m)
Will W. Case (built 1878, bark 3m)

Other vessels:

Alitak (built 1901, motor ship)
Arctic (built 1904, steamship), ex-Newport News (steamship), ex-Oldenwald (steamship), ex-St. Jan (steamship)
Bering (built 1920, steamship), ex-Salatiga (steamship)
Chirikof (built 1908, steamship), ex-Lurline (passenger ship)
Delarof (built 1920, steamship), ex-Mohinkis (steamship)
Etolin (built 1913, steamship), ex-Matsonia (passenger ship)
Kodiak (built 1912, steamship)
Kvichak (built 1900, tugboat)
Salmon King (built 1918, steamship), ex-H.B. Lovejoy (steam schooner)

Sources:

Lyman, John. "The Alaska Packers, San Francisco." Sea Breezes. Dec. 1934 and Jan. 1935. Print.
Huycke, Harold. "The Great Star Fleet." 1960.
Loring, Charles M. 1947. Data & notes on the sailing vessel fleet of the Alaska Packers Association, San Francisco, Calif.

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Hot Vichyssoise

2011-10-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Library has many books concerning food at sea, including some about the elegant dining aboard ocean liners. The Captain's Table : 18 recipes for famous dishes served aboard the S.S. United States and S.S. America contains recipes adapted for the home kitchen so you can enjoy the dishes that were served in the elegant dining rooms at sea, including this one:

Hot Vichyssoise

Mince 2 onions and the white parts of 4 well-washed leeks and combine them in a heavy saucepan with 3 tablespoons butter. Simmer the mixture over low heat for 15 minutes. Add 3 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, and 2 cups chicken stock. Season with salt and white pepper to taste and simmer the soup over low heat until the potatoes are tender. Add 2 cups hot milk and 4 tablespoons butter. Strain the soup and pour it into a tureen. Add 12 slices of French dinner rolls. Serves 4.

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-10-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the Library's lists of new accessions for the last half of June through the first half of August; for more information on any title, contact us or search our catalogs:

Library new accessions, August 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 31 Kb)
Library new accessions, September 1-15, 2011 (.pdf file, 30 Kb)
Library new accessions, September 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 33 Kb)

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Two steamers meeting, and passing

2011-09-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

Two Steamers Meeting

When both side lights you see ahead,
Port your helm and show your RED.

Two Steamers Passing

GREEN to GREEN, or RED to RED--
Perfect safety--go ahead.

Another instructive rhyme, addressing vessel sidelights, from Nautical Nursery Rhymes, by Billy Ringbolt, which resides in the "Peterson, Peter H. (Capt.) Papers, (SAFR 18665, HDC 571)."

(Contributor: Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feeds and commenting.

Digging for Gold at the Library: Paasch

2011-09-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

(by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

The other day an archivist here had a question about a piece of equipment she found in a photograph. She wasn't sure what it was and asked our historian and the Library staff if we could help. Stephen suggested we break out the Paasch. Paasch sounds like an Easter Egg dying kit, but he is in fact the author of Illustrated Marine Encyclopedia. Paasch, or more formally Capt. H. Paasch, Knight of the Order of "Leopold," of the Imperial Order "Francis Joseph," of the Military Order of "Christ," etc., Member of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, Surveyor to Lloyd's Register for Belgium, Author of "From Keel to Truck," etc. (or at least that is how he has listed himself on the title page...I hope his friends just called him Paasch), is probably better known for his multilanguage dictionary, From Keel to Truck. The Illustrated Marine Encyclopedia was published in response to the success of that title as apparently many readers wrote asking him to expand the English definitions. He accommodated and added material related to merchant service in general. The result is a classic of maritime reference.

What makes Illustrated Marine Encyclopedia so interesting to me (besides the fact that the book is dedicated to "His most Gracious Majesty Leopold II King of the Belgians, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Sovereign of the Independent Congo State"--a controversial dedicatee indeed) are the titular illustrations. The drawings are not only beautiful but so exact that they almost appear to be 3-D. They pop from the page and invite you to invest time in exploring the smallest of the details. The explanations of what exactly (and I do mean exactly) you are looking at are on the opposite page. This is the sort of reference book you could curl up with by a fire. I've included some of my favorites below, but come to the library and see for yourself!

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When running free

2011-09-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

When Running Free

When off the wind and going free,
Keep clear of ships close-hauled you see,
And running with the wind dead aft,
Give way to every sailing craft.

Another instructive rhyme from Nautical Nursery Rhymes, by Billy Ringbolt, which resides in the "Peterson, Peter H. (Capt.) Papers, (SAFR 18665, HDC 571)."

(Contributor: Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

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Red-lined wrasse

2011-09-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

The red-lined wrasse (Crenilabrus pavo Linnaeus), plate 6 from the Library's copy of the beautiful book, Taking one's own ship around the world, a journal descriptive of scenes and incidents, together with observations from the log book, recorded on the voyage around the world, October 25, 1928, to May 16, 1929, of the yacht Ara, commanded by the author, William K. Vanderbilt.

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What d'ya mean by "Crow's nest?"

2011-09-01T09:32:00.001-07:00

A sailor get's a bird's-eye view of his environment from a crow's nest. Galleons of the 16th century often had one or more crow's nests situated high on the tallest masts, where a sailor often shared this lofty perch with crows brought aboard in a cage, hence the term, "crow's nest." If the captain wanted to locate land, a crow was released from the perch and the navigator sailed in the direction of the bird's flight as it invariably headed towards land. Modern mates use the term to describe any kind of protected station fitted aloft to accommodate a lookout.

The Park's full hull model artifact, English galleon Golden Hind, catalog number SAFR 22687, has excellent examples of crow's nest perches on the main and foremast. See it for yourself. The Golden Hind is currently on exhibit in the Prismatarium room of the Museum Building.

Citations:

Rogers, John G. Origins of sea terms. Mystic, Conn.: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1984.
MacEwen, William A. and A.H. Lewis. Encyclopedia of nautical knowledge. Cambridge, Md.: Cornell Maritime Press, 1953.

--Contributor: Palma J. You, Archives Technician.

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With Wind on Same Sides

2011-08-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here's another instructive rhyme from Nautical Nursery Rhymes by Billy Ringbolt, which resides in the "Peterson, Peter H. (Capt.) Papers," (SAFR 18665, HDC 571):

"With Wind on Same Sides"

When vessels are sailing with wind the same side,
To continue their course they might foul or collide,
The one that's to windward is the one to keep clear,
From her course give the other no reason to sheer.

(Contributer: Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

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New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-08-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here are the Library's lists of new accessions for the last half of June through the first half of August; for more information on any title, contact us or search our catalogs:

Library New Accessions, June 16-30, 2011
(.pdf file, 27 Kb)
Library New Accessions, July 1-15, 2011
(.pdf file, 27 Kb)
Library New Accessions, July 16-31, 2011
(.pdf file, 16 Kb)
Library New Accessions, Aug. 1-15, 2011
(.pdf file, 28 Kb)

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Digging for gold at the Library: Cramp's Shipyard

2011-08-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

(by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

The other day I was walking through the stacks and I caught a glint of gold. Now, I am neither a bird nor a rat nor a raccoon nor Gollum, but when I see something shiny, I must investigate further.

What caught my eye was a 1920 book entitled Cramp's Shipyard. In the picture below it is difficult to see how nice the cover is. It's more gold than yellow.

"Shiny!"

The book is a brief history of the William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, the I.P. Morris Company, and the Kensington Shipyard Co. Most of the slim volume is photos of their various ships which is nice, but we've seen images like those a million times. The thing that knocked my socks clean off (I'm still looking for them...if you see a pair of rainbow toe socks anywhere, they're mine) are the beautiful photographs of the equipment and machinery. Some of these things don't look like they belong of this temporal world. Rather, they look as if they should be in a Dr. Seuss book or in the movie Metropolis. I submit for your approval:

Where do those tubes go, I wonder? Willy Wonka's Shipbuilding Factory?

Anyone up for a game of pool?

It's reminiscent of Dr. Doolittle's snail, no?

Hooooooonk! It calls to mind an ungainly instrument.

I wish this was my playhouse.

Come by the library anytime to check out Cramp's Shipyard and drool over the wonderous machines.

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & functioning commenting.

Hydraulic Dredging

2011-08-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five (it lacks an rss feed & commenting):

(by Mariah Robertson, Archivist)
Patent no. 318,859 was designed by Alphonzo B. Bowers and patented in 1885 via the United States Patent Office. Bowers was originally from Maine and moved to the San Francisco area in 1853 and began to design machinery engineered to advance the development of the Bay Area just after the Gold Rush. Nearly 85 years after his passing, the Alphonzo B. Bowers Papers were donated to the Historic Documents Department and have been processed and are open for researcher use.

A very interesting aspect of this collection is it seems to be an accepted fact that Von Schmidt was the inventor of the hydraulic dredge. But according to the court documents contained in the collection, in 1888, Bowers sued Colonel A.W. Von Schmidt for infringement and won. This suit was the basis for many future lawsuits regarding infringement of his patents. Some of the companies sued were Williams & Bixler, the Golden State and Miners' Iron Works, the San Francisco Bridge Company, the Pacific Coast Dredging and Reclamation Company (San Francisco), L.W. Bates of Chicago, and the New York Dredging Company. An 1897 appeal case ruling declared Bowers to be the inventor of the hydraulic system of dredging. He spent the rest of his life in litigation regarding infringement lawsuits in the United States, Cuba, and other countries.

What time is it?

2011-07-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five (it lacks rss feeds & commenting):

Aboard a ship, time is told by the striking of the ship's bell. Charts at the Antique Horology website, and the Wikipedia article, illustrate how many bells at what time. In the library we have extensive collections of ephemeral items, and this handy chart is part of our file of printed ephemera dealing with bells--it illustrates the system graphically:

What time is it where you are? How many bells?

What d'ya mean by "Donkey's Breakfast?"

2011-07-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

A "donkey's breakfast" is "a sailor's nickname for a straw mattress, issued in some forecastles in the early 19th century."

(Source: Rogers, John G. Origins of sea terms.)

And, what's a "forecastle?" "A forward living compartment for the crew."

(Source: Kerchove, Rene de. International maritime dictionary.)

(Contributors: Palma J. You, Archives Technician & Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

--Mirrored from Full Fathom Five due to its lack of rss feed & commenting.

Digging for Gold at the Library: Shipshape

2011-07-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & commenting:

(by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

In my last post, we discussed what to pack on an ocean voyage. So now that you are sure to look your best, we’ll move on to what to do when you’re under way (besides standing there looking fabulous).

The book Shipshape or Sea-legs Without Tears by Edmund Vale will be our guide. Written in 1931, Shipshape has excellent advice for the novice traveler. There’s scads of technical information--entire chapters devoted to the Engine Room and the Bridge, for instance. But let’s be honest. What we care about is the nitty-gritty on the social scene. That’s where Shipshape shines. For example, the third most important thing to do as soon as you board (after finding your room and noting the time of breakfast) is to "fix the time of your bath" (177). Would you have had the forethought to do that on your own? No, of course not. The rest of your voyage would be spent sneaking in baths willy-nilly, haphazardly washing yourself in an unscheduled manner. It’s simply not decent.

Caption: Unfixed bath times result in chaos and anarchy.

Shipshape also gives the low down on the officers. "The captain is generally polite but a silent man" and "If you want liveliness, it will be bad luck, should you sit at the doctor’s table and not get it" (178) and "Your modern Steward is human, almost humane" (184).

Caption: This guy would beg to differ with that statement.

But the most intriguing part of Shipshape is the chapter dealing with deck games. In my last post, we discussed what to wear while playing quoits. Now, we finally learn what quoits is. Or at least you would have learned, but I’ve decided to cut the quoits description to focus instead on Bumble Puppy.

Caption: BUMBLE PUPPIES!

The name of the game is actually more thrilling than the game itself, which is basically tetherball on a ship. But if you are on a ship and are anxious to make friends, I recommend suggesting a friendly game of Bumble Puppy. Who could refuse such an offer?

Caption: Play Bumble Puppy with me! (photo credit Nixx Photography)

Ships on the Shore

2011-07-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you reading the blog via your feeds, I wanted to call your attention to an addition to our blog roll, Ships on the Shore, a very interesting blog where Jamin Wells writes about shipwrecks--news, research, and the thoughts of one who studies them.

Thanks to Jamin for alerting me to Ships on the Shore!

Wind on Different Sides

2011-07-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of commenting & rss feed:

Here's another instructive rhyme from Nautical Nursery Rhymes by Billy Ringbolt, which resides in the Park's Peterson, Peter H. (Capt.) Papers (SAFR 18665, HDC 571):

Wind on Different Sides

With wind on starboard you hold right of way,
But with it to port you must not delay
To do what is best in order to steer
Quite clear of the other and not interfere.

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-06-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feeds & commenting:

Here are the Library's lists of new accessions for the last half of April and the first half of May; for more information on any title, contact us, or search our catalogs:

Library New Accessions, May 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 32Kb)
Library New Accessions, June 1-15, 2011 (.pdf file, 29 Kb)

Hal Roth Papers

2011-06-22T09:03:00.001-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss & commenting:

The Hal Roth Papers, 1938-2009 have been cataloged and are now available to researchers. During the work on the collection, Alison Fudge, Archives Technician, wrote:

The Archives recently acquired the collection of Hal Roth, and I am hard at work helping to process the collection so that it will soon be ready to share with researchers. Roth was a noted seaman and author who sailed around the world with his wife, Margaret, aboard their yacht Whisper, and wrote 13 books and numerous articles regarding their journeys.

Roth's travels took him to many faraway locales, including French Polynesia, the Mediterranean, South America, Japan, and around Cape Horn. In 1971, he was awarded the Blue Water Medal from the Cruising Club of America for his circumnavigation of the Pacific Basin.

He was also an accomplished photographer who studied under Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. In addition to an extensive representation of maritime photography, the collection also includes beautiful images of California landscapes and San Francisco's Chinatown.

There are so many treasures waiting to be discovered!

Play cribbage like a sailor

2011-06-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed & commenting functions:

If you search our Museum Web Catalog, you'll find several examples of cribbage boards such as the one below. Popular for centuries, today in the U.S. alone it is played by over 10 million people!

Want to learn how to play the way they did in the 19th century? The Cribbage Player's Text-book, Being a New and Complete Treatise on the Game in all its Varieties (1837) is available online for free from the Internet Archive. If you're interested in a contemporary outline of how to play the game, the Wikipedia article is a good place to start; the links at the bottom of the article lead to cribbage associations, forums, and much more. If you're looking for a handy book to refer to while playing, either Scarne's Encyclopedia of Card Games or According to Hoyle : official rules of more than 200 popular games of skill and chance, with expert advice on winning play, will soon have you playing like a sailor.

Citation: "Cribbage." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Library Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. .

Digging for Gold at the Library: Sea Monsters!

2011-06-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

If you're getting ready to take an ocean voyage, there are some staples you would pack: sunglasses, a set of quoits, a bathing suit with matching cape and most importantly, Monsters of the sea, legendary and authentic:

Because you would hate to be lounging in a deck chair sipping a scorpion and suddenly see a strange shape in the ocean and not be able to identify it as an American Sea Serpent or a Mediterranean one. Think how people would laugh at you! For reference purposes:

No, you must be prepared on your voyage. As the book points out in a beautiful detail on its cover, do you really want to be surprised by an octopus?

I think not. Surprises should involve parties, cakes and jewelry--not knife fighting cephalopods.

If you'd like to see John Gibson's Monsters of the sea, legendary and authentic, stop by the Library. There are sixteen other wonderful illustrations along with all the information you need to astound and amaze your fellow travelers while playing quoits.

Who let the Kraken out?

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-06-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of rss feed:

Here are the Library's lists of new accessions for the last half of April and the first half of May; for more information on any title, contact us, or search our catalogs:

Library New Accessions, Apr. 17-30, 2011
(.pdf file, 92 Kb)
Library New Accessions, May 1-15, 2011
(.pdf file, 118 Kb)

What d'ya mean?

2011-05-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

What d'ya mean?

...by "Craft?"

"It is a very general word. In the nautical sense, it refers to virtually all ships and boats, large or small.

It comes from the Old English, craeft, which is believed to refer not only to boats and ships but to the skills required to build them."

Source: Rogers, John G. Origins of sea terms. Mystic, Conn. : Mystic Seaport Museum, 1984.

--Contributor: Palma J. You, Archives Technician.

"Viking" across the Atlantic

2011-05-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

The Library recently acquired a lovely little book, "Viking" across the Atlantic : and a short summary of the Norwegian Vikings and Vikingships by Alfred A. Holm (Chicago : John Anderson Pub. Co., 1893), which is also available online. Assistant Curator Ted Miles sends in this report about the replica vessel, "Viking:"

I was recently asked what is the oldest replica in the world? This is not the time to debate the terms. Is it better to call it a replica, a reproduction or whatever? We can do that another day. You might want to read my article on "Historic Reproductions: An Account of Past Efforts," in Sea History #17 for Summer 1980 pages 26-27. The illustrations are from my post card collection. In the same issue is a list of existing vessels on pages 29-31.

But most people use the word replica to talk about long gone historic craft of one sort or another. The World's Fairs of the late 19th century certainly produced a number of them. The Columbian Expostion of 1893 had replicas of the three vessels used by Christopher Columbus voyage of 1492. And just so he did not get all the glory; a group of people in Norway built a replica of the famous Gokstad burial ship which had been excavated in 1880 and sailed it across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago.

Many years ago, I was visiting Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois and saw the ship on display. It has been given a shelter to protect it from the harsh winter weather. The other day, I looked it up on the Internet and find that the Friends of the Viking Ship can be found at www.vikingship.us. Now I see that the ship has been moved to Geneva, Illinois and placed under a different shelter. Tours of the display site are available in the summer.

The King Philip

2011-05-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

(by Judy Hitzeman, Museum Curator (Registrar))

The bow of the King Philip at Ocean Beach (Photo copyright Judy Hitzeman, all rights reserved, used with permission)

The three-masted clipper ship King Philip recently reappeared on Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Built in Massachusetts in 1855, King Philip was a Cape Horner, making regular trips between New York and San Francisco. On January 25, 1878, while leaving San Francisco, the tug towing her out to sea had to leave to aid another vessel. The King Philip dropped an anchor, but it did not hold, and she drifted onto the beach. There was no loss of life, but the vessel broke apart.

Stern of the King Philip (Photo copyright Judy Hitzeman, all rights reserved, used with permission)

Charles Hittell captured the scene in a painting done in March of that year. The painting is now in the San Francisco Maritime NHP museum collection, catalog number SAFR 5729. Born in San Francisco in 1861, Hittell was just 17 when he painted the wreck. He went on to study at the San Francisco School of Design, as well as in Munich and Paris where he made the most of his California origins by dressing as a cowboy and affecting the name “Carlos.” Hittell’s California work included seascapes but he was mainly noted for California adobe scenes and western landscapes.

The King Philip wreck site is located at the foot of Noriega Street. It is usually covered in sand but occasionally appears when conditions are right.

Digging for Gold at the Library : Buried Treasure Maps

2011-05-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian

The other day I was answering a reference question about steamship routes and it gave me a chance to visit one of my favorites sections of a library, the ol’ Gs, better known as "Geography (General). Atlases. Maps." As a Maritime Library, the expectation is that we would be more interested in charts than maps, and while there are some charts that are interesting to look at for reasons other than navigation, nothing beats a map in my book for unintentional art. Today’s library treasure is Derek Hayes’s Historical Atlas of California with Original Maps, published by University of California in 2007.

Look at this beautiful image from a map published by Bosqui Eng. & Print Co., in 1884. The map shows San Francisco in 1847. It’s such an idyllic view of the city- so quiet and unassuming. I’d wager it was a fairly easy map to drawn what with only 5 streets. Oh, to have great great-great grandparents who would have bought up a block or two!

This next map is a broadsheet which has information about going to the gold mines. It was published in 1849 by James Wyld and contains valuable advice such as, if you go the Chagres and Panama route, "Do not touch the oysters, wear flannel next to the skin by day and by night, avoid spirituous liquors and it is needless to say, be off the first opportunity."

They also call the climate of our region "remarkably healthy" which I would agree with on most days.

If you’d like to take a look at this book or any other book in the library, stop on by. I’m always up for a dig!

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-04-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of an rss feed:

New in the Library:

The Library's new accessions lists from the latter half of March and the first half of April are now available.

We download these lists from OCLC, whose public interface is known as WorldCat.org. Although we catalog directly on OCLC, we do not have the type of subscription that would allow us to appear as a holding library on WorldCat.org, but you can see our holdings in the NPS Combined Library Catalog. (See our Catalogs & Finding Aids page for catalogs listing other Museum Collections.)

* Library New Accessions, Mar. 16-31, 2011 (.pdf file, 27 Kb)
* Library New Accessions, Apr. 1-16, 2011 (.pdf file, 31 Kb)

What is a fathom?

2011-04-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

According to the library's 1988 edition of The Oxford companion to ships and the sea, a fathom:

...comes from the old English faedm, to embrace, and is a measurement across the outstretched arms of a man, approximately 6 feet in a man of average size; the length of a nautical fathom is therefore 6 feet.

So how far is "full fathom five?" About 30 feet, or a little over 9 meters.

Herman Melville's library

2011-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

A catalog of Herman Melville's library has been created on LibraryThing. According to the library's profile page, the library "has been graciously catalogued by Merton M. Sealts, Jr. in his work Melville's Reading." The profile describing the library is delightful, with information "supplied by a sub-sub librarian," and Hart Crane's poem, "At Melville's Tomb."

When viewing the library, don't miss the gray text in on one of the top bars that informs you that, "HermanMelville has a suggested style for viewing this library (use it)." When you select the "use it" link, the library display will change to include a "Comments" column, pulling this field from the catalog records, which describes provenance, sources, existence of annotations, etc.

Log chips by John Lyman

2011-04-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

(by Ted Miles, Assistant Curator)

Starting in July 1948 maritime historian John Lyman wrote and edited a mimeographed news letter called Log Chips: A Periodical Publication of Recent Maritime History. Each issue is twelve pages and each volume consisted of 12 issues. There were four volumes and later on of his friends Norman Brouwer edited a series of Log Chips Supplements.

The material covered within these pages is wide ranging and is a wonderful resource for those people who are interested in commercial sail in the Pacific after about 1860. For example there is a List of Launchings in the United Kingdom in most issues. The iron and steel sailing vessels that were built in the UK between about 1838 and 1907 were a major player in moving cargo around the world during this period. These vessels came to be called Cape Horners because so many of their voyages took them around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean.

Another area that Dr. Lyman was very interested in was west coast shipbuilding. In many issues he wrote biographical articles including launching lists on ship builders up and down the coast, for example Matthew Turner, Hans D. Bendixsen, the Hall Brothers and others. The men and the companies who built the East Coast schooners were covered especially in New England. There are lists of schooners from seven masts down to three mast and their histories.

Regular reports in Log Chips covered Recent Bibliography, Sail News and Book Reviews. An especially interesting group of reviews by California State Senator James Mills was a group of classic titles that were not new even 50 years ago and deserved to be better known. This writer has continues to use this approach in Relative Bearings today; the Newsletter of the Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library.

As mentioned Lyman did a lot of the writing, but other contributors included Commander Alan Villiers, maritime historians Hans Joaquin Gersdorf and Andrew W. Nesdall, Curator Robert G. Burgess of the Mariners Museum and so many others. Charles W. Morgan of Boston wrote letters and later contributed a 12 page index to the publication.

Further needs to be said on the Launching Lists of the United Kingdom. They are laid out geographically around the coasts from Newcastle and Sunderland all the way around to Belfast, Ireland. Changes of name and owners are recorded and in many cases final fates of the vessels. John Lyman took the annual lists back to 1875 and Norman Brouwer took them the rest of the way back to 1838 when the Iron Age was launched. She was the first ocean going iron sailing vessel in the world. I do not know of any other publication where you can get so much sailing ship data in one place.

Sources:
Log Chips.

Kortum, Karl, and Routh, Donald. "John Lyman: the Hub of Our Wheel." Sea History No. 12 (fall 1978) (1978): p. 13-15. Print.

"Potato, potato, potato"

2011-04-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

An illustration of a one cylinder, eight horsepower Hicks engine that is in the Park's artifact collection, circa 1940. SAFR 17336, HDC 1092

Are you renovating a Hicks engine, or making a scale model of one?
Or even if you want to look at the engineering plans, we are an excellent source of accessible information. The Park’s archive collection, HDC 1092 SAFR 17336, includes blueprints, assembly and price lists, a catalog and instruction manual, photographs, and illustrations of parts. Blueprint title blocks indicate the unique engine series number, part name and number, and issue date. Plans for series B, C, D, E, F, W, Sketch, AY, BY, CY, DY, EY, FY, GY, HY, KY and LY model engines, which have one to three cylinders and horsepower ranging from 6 to 45, are included. Bay Specialties Company donated the collection in 1994. We also have a number of catalog records for our collection of Hicks engines and parts, and for related materials in the Library collection.

To read more about the collection, and to learn what a Hicks engine has to do with saying, "Potato, potato, potato," see the new Collection Corner article about the Hicks Marine Engine Archival Collection, and for more details, or to access the collection, call 415-561-7030.

--Contributor: Palma J. You, Archives Technician

Digging for gold at the library: Coast Seaman's Journal

2011-03-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

(by Gina Bardi, Reference Librarian)

Sometimes when you come to the library, you know exactly what material will be the most useful for your research. Other times, the library seems to be laid out before you as a vast and uncharted landscape of great unknowns. Like a prospector, you must dig a little here and there with hopes of striking it rich. In this regular feature we will mine the collection for veins of information and see if we can make our research fortune.

Today we are digging for treasure in the Coast Seaman's Journal, a periodical started in 1875 by the Coast Seamen's Union. Our library has a run from 1875 to 1918 as the Coast Seaman's Journal and then from 1918 to 1929 in its second incarnation as the Seaman's Journal. We also have a few convention issues from the 1930's. I pulled volume 22 which covers September 23rd, 1908 to September 13th, 1909.

What does the Coast Seaman's Journal have to offer? Shall we grab the pick axe of our curiosity and begin to dig?

Someone who was working on maritime labor history would absolutely want to include this publication in their research (and if they didn't know it existed, a helpful reference librarian would point it out). Each issue is devoted to labor causes on both coasts and the Great Lakes. World events are discussed through the lens of labor. This journal provides startling clear insight into the mind of unions during the turbulent early years of their formation. There are also general news sections, sometimes maritime: "Mexico's first attempt to fortify her harbors with modern rifles will be undertaken at Santa Cruz" ("News from Abroad" 12). Sometimes not: "The Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, a California organization, has decided hereafter that no malt or spirituous liquors shall be used at the entertainments given by the order." ("Home News" 13). The good news is each volume is indexed at its start. The bad, or perhaps more amusing than bad, is the style in which they are indexed, which is by title of article and not by subject. One has to wonder what this refers to:

"Story, Strange, Hinted at"

And I defy you to read the entry:

"Sea-Coffins Doomed"

and not linger for a moment on its promisingly macabre content.

A boon for genealogists would be the "Information Wanted" section of each issue. Here, worried friends, family and lovers leave ads hoping to find what has become of their missing loved ones. A typical one from reads:

"John Widell, who has been on the Pacific Coast and in Alaska for about 18 years, is inquired for by his nephew, Bernt Valdemar Blomquist, Box 65, Seattle Wash. "

Or this heartbreaker with a $50 reward for information:

"Albert Dietrich, bluish eyes and prominent upper teeth, fair complexion, dark blonde hair, 13 years of age, 4 feet 8 inches tall, missing from his home, 1539 9th Avenue, Sunset, San Francisco, since November 27th, 1907, is inquired for by his parents."

Another feature is that of the "Letters List". Family and friends could send letters to sailors at sea care of the union offices and they would be held there until the sailor returned from their voyage. Each week a list of lucky sailors who have letters waiting for them would be printed. There are also regular inclusions of sea shanties, With the Wits (a joke section of dubious nature) and some wonderful advertisements.

I've only scratched the surface, so to speak, of what this journal offers. Please come by and peruse our collection of the Coast Seamen's Journal and see what you can dig up.

Citations:

"Home News." Coast Seamen's Journal 22.33 (1909): 13. Print.

"Index". Coast Seamen's Journal 22 (1909). Print.

"Information Wanted." Coast Seamen's Journal 22.26 (1909): 12. Print.

"News from Abroad." Coast Seamen's Journal 22.24 (1909): 12. Print.

Nautical Nursery Rhymes

2011-03-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five:

This small treasure resides in the "Peterson, Peter H. (Capt.) Papers," (SAFR 18665, HDC 571) and expresses principles of seamanship in verse, such as:

Meeting on Opposite Tacks
On opposite tacks, when approaching too near,
The ship on the starboard has nothing to fear;
The one on the port tack has either to stay,
Or put up her helm and get out of the way.

For more on Taylor's Nautical School, the issuer of the booklet, see the promotional pamphlet, Taylor's Nautical School, San Francisco, in the Library collection at r V430.A4 T39, and Taylor's modern navigation, also in the Library at VK401.T3 1904.

Contributors: Keri Koehler, Collections Manager; Palma J. You, Archives Technician; Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian.

Ship model conservation course, England

2011-03-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

International Academic Projects is pleased to announce a 3 day
course 'Ship Models: Care, Conservation and Display' which will be
held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the Historic
Dockyard, Chatham, 11-13 October 2011. This is a new addition to the
2011 course calendar of International Academic Projects.

The course, aimed at collections managers, curators and
conservators, will be conducted by the curatorial and conservation
specialists of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and will
cover: the history of the making of ship models; the materials from
which models are made and issues concerning their handling and
movement; display methods; storage and display conditions; making
the materials required for restoration; and the use of plans,
paintings and photographs in the conservation process.

Course details and the proposed timetable are available at

http://www.academicprojects.co.uk/course-details.php?courseID=765

Places are also still available on several other courses offered by
International Academic Projects - including:

Conservation of Glass Objects
(London) 12 - 16 September, 2011

Making Replicas of Museum Objects
(Denmark) 6 - 10 June, 2011

Making Electroform Replicas of Museum Objects
(Denmark) 20 - 24 June, 2011

Digital Photography of Museum Objects
(London) 21 - 22 June, 2011

The Identification of Paper
(London) 4-5 July, 2011

Chemistry for Conservators correspondence course
(September - December 2011)

Please check

New in the SF Maritime NHP Library

2011-03-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Mirrored from Full Fathom Five, due to its lack of an rss feed:

New in the Library:

The Library's new accessions lists from the later half of February and the first half of March are now available.

We download these lists from OCLC, whose public interface is known as WorldCat.org. Although we catalog directly on OCLC, we do not have the type of subscription that would allow us to appear as a holding library on WorldCat.org, but you can see our holdings in the NPS Combined Library Catalog. (See our Catalogs & Finding Aids page for catalogs listing other Museum Collections.)

* Library New Accessions, Feb. 16-28, 2011 (.pdf file, 19Kb)
* Library New Accessions, Mar. 1-15, 2011 (.pdf file, 14 Kb)

Do you have traveling plans?

2011-03-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Mirrored below is Palma J. You's new post from over at Full Fathom Five, Do you have traveling plans?

We do! Prior to the digital revolution, marine engineering plans often needed to travel between builders, owners, consultants and architects. Document tubes were used to protect plans while in transport. I am currently processing a large (94 linear feet) collection donated by Pillsbury & Martignoni, Naval Architects and Marine Engineers of San Francisco who were in business during the first half of the 20th century. Most of the plans inventoried thus far relate to tugs, towboats, sport fishing boats, freighters, barges and passengers vessels. Very interesting, but I also find the storage tube an interesting pre-plastic artifact.

The two varieties of materials used in construction of traveling tubes for this marine engineering firm are aluminum and fiber board. The plans stored inside are circa 1943-1965. More on the plans stored inside the tubes next time!

--Contributor: Palma J. You, Archives Technician

Full Fathom Five

2011-03-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

There's a new blog from the Collections Department at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Full Fathom Five, where I'm a contributing editor. The software that we use does not yet have an rss feed, so for the time being, I'll be mirroring posts over here. Do please check it out--we'd appreciate your input.

The debut post:

Welcome to Full Fathom Five

When Shakespeare has Ariel sing this song in Act 1, scene ii of The Tempest, he sings of transformation--of the ordinary becoming something beautiful at the end of its life:

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rare and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-Dong.
Hark! now I hear them -- Ding-dong, bell.

Here in the Collections Department at San Francisco Maritime, what we collect, preserve and make available were often ordinary objects at the ends of their useful lives--sometimes, literally, from "full fathom five," in the case of objects retrieved from shipwrecks. Through our care, we give them new life as museum collections, and we help them to emerge into exhibits and into the arena of research, study, and enjoyment.

Join us in our journey, deep in the collections, through the rich and strange.

UK ship models conservation course & conservation assistant position

2011-03-09T08:08:00.001-08:00

The latest issue of the Conservation Distlist had news of interest to the maritime conservation community; an interesting course:

International Academic Projects is pleased to announce a 3 day
course 'Ship Models: Care, Conservation and Display' which will be
held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the Historic
Dockyard, Chatham, 11-13 October 2011. This is a new addition to the
2011 course calendar of International Academic Projects.

The course, aimed at collections managers, curators and
conservators, will be conducted by the curatorial and conservation
specialists of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and will
cover: the history of the making of ship models; the materials from
which models are made and issues concerning their handling and
movement; display methods; storage and display conditions; making
the materials required for restoration; and the use of plans,
paintings and photographs in the conservation process.

Course details and the proposed timetable are available at

http://www.academicprojects.co.uk/course-details.php?courseID=765

Places are also still available on several other courses offered by
International Academic Projects - including:

Conservation of Glass Objects
(London) 12 - 16 September, 2011

Making Replicas of Museum Objects
(Denmark) 6 - 10 June, 2011

Making Electroform Replicas of Museum Objects
(Denmark) 20 - 24 June, 2011

Digital Photography of Museum Objects
(London) 21 - 22 June, 2011

The Identification of Paper
(London) 4-5 July, 2011

Chemistry for Conservators correspondence course
(September - December 2011)

Please check http://www.academicprojects.co.uk for full
information or get in touch by email or telephone if you have any
questions.

Hannah Turk
Administrative Assistant
International Academic Projects
6 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 5HJ
+44 207 380 0800
Fax: +44 207 380 0500

And an interesting position announcement:

Preventive Conservation Assistant
National Maritime Museum
London

UKP18,000 - UKP22,000

With three historic sites housing a range of world-renowned
collections, the National Maritime Museum is a unique and
stimulating environment. With the opening of the brand new Sammy
Ofer Wing this summer, we are looking for an individual to join our
Preventive Conservation team to provide key support in the
preservation and care of our collections across all sites.

Your role will be to carry out cleaning and other housekeeping
duties in addition to assisting in the implementation of the Pest
Management Plan and Environmental Monitoring Strategy. We will also
need you to write method statements and reports, work with team
members on larger projects and suggest improvements to working
practices.

A good understanding of conservation, security and Health and Safety
relating to collections care is essential, along with the ability to
select appropriate cleaning options. A high level of manual
dexterity, experience of working with a range of hand tools and the
ability to work at heights are also important, plus strong
documentation and IT skills. A relevant qualification and experience
within a heritage environment would both be preferred.

For a full job description and details of how to apply, please visit

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/jobs

Closing date: 20 March 2011.

Birthe Christensen
Head of Conservation and Preservation
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
London SE10 9NF
+44 20 8312 6504

Happy birthday Kurt Weill

2011-03-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Kurt Weill was born 111 years ago today in Dessau, Germany. He composed the music for Seeräuber Jenny, known in English as "Pirate Jenny," one of the very famous songs from Die Dreigroschenoper (The Three Penny Opera) with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht.

BibMe, Zotero

2011-02-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

When I heard that BibMe.org and Citavi.com had become WorldCat.org citation partners, I decided to check BibMe out. I went for BibMe simply because it's web-based, and that made it attractive for accessing from multiple computers--if I worked mostly from one machine, I would have downloaded Citavi to explore also.

I have to admit I'm rather new to online citation & reference management. I've been using Zotero.org for a few months, and love it for managing information gleaned from online sources, but was attracted to BibMe because it's a bibliography builder. I have to also admit that I haven't thoroughly explored Zotero's capabilities to generate bibliographies--after about five minutes of clicking around, I gave up, and the announcement about BibMe sent me there--so please let me know if there's great functionality in Zotero that I missed!

Within seconds, I was compiling a bibliography in BibMe. Registration isn't necessary--you can use it to generate citations immediately without registration. I did end up registering, though, because I wanted to save a bibliography and share it. I had a great bibliography generated in a few minutes: my Maritime Reading Lists (or lists that include maritime titles). If you want to add any of these to your own bibliography, click the "Add to Bibliography" icons--although you won't see anything happen, when you click the "Bibliography Maker" tab, the citations you added will be there, where you can manipulate them, download them, etc.

My only wish is that the URLs listed in the citations for websites be activated--having to copy & paste a link into a browser window to go there seems antiquated to me.

In the future, I will explore the capabilities of Zotero more thoroughly--I like it because of the short learning curve, or, really, no learning curve--I was up and running with it right away after installing it with my Firefox browser. But I won't be doing that right away--it runs very, very slowly for me. BibMe runs faster--everything loads quickly, and I have a citation in whatever standard format I choose right away, accessible from anywhere. With Zotero, I need to log in to see "My Library," (after doing a sync from the computer I've been using), and just logging in takes a long time.

So if you're new to managing your online sources, you may wish to check out these tools--or others--there are many, many out there! These are two tools that I've been trying out.

Assistant Librarian, Reader Services, Castine, Maine

2011-02-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

The Nutting Memorial Library at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, is seeking an Assistant Librarian, Reader Services. From the listing on LISJobs:

Assistant Librarian, Reader Services
Nutting Memorial Library
Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, Maine

The successful candidate will possess an MLS from an ALA-accredited Program; experience in an academic library; experience with integrated library systems (I.I.I. Millennium preferred); thorough knowledge of bibliographic database searching; and familiarity with web site design and maintenance. A background in teaching library skills is strongly preferred. Responsible for reference services, library instruction, interlibrary loan, and circulation services. Ten-month position with generous benefits, pay range 20 $35,511.97. Some nights and weekends may be required.

Interested candidates should submit a completed application and resume as soon as possible, including a list of at least three professional references to:
Director of Personnel Administration
Box 3
Castine, ME 04420
An original, Maine Maritime Academy application must be submitted to the MMA Human Resources Office, prior to consideration by a supervisor or selection committee. Successful candidates may be subject to a background investigation appropriate to the position offered. For an online application form, go to www.mma.edu under jobs@mma. MMA is an EOE ~~~ Women and minorities are particularly encouraged to apply.

Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) is an 850 student, public, fully accredited four-year college located in the small coastal village of Castine, Maine. The college is one of six state-supported Maritime Colleges in the United States. MMA is a college of engineering, transportation, management, ocean sciences and international business.

Library web site: library.mma.edu

When applying, please mention that you saw this ad on LISjobs.com.

The Adventurous Life of the Late William Scoresby

2011-02-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

Memorials of the Sea : My Father: Being Records of the Adventurous Life of the Late William Scoresby, Esq. of Whitby by his son, the Rev. William Scoresby, D.D., is now available on Project Gutenberg.

Third in the author's Memorials of the Sea, the volume does seem to cover a remarkable career, as outlined by the table of contents:

Chapter I.—Early Life and Progress as a Seaman 3
Sect. 1. My Father’s early Life 3
2. His First Year’s Apprenticeship 12
3. His Progress as a Seaman, with Incidents of Sea-life 20
4. Capture by the Enemy, and Escape from a Spanish Prison 26
5. Rewards of Masterly Seamanship 31
6. Entrance on, and Progress in Training in, the Greenland Whale-fishery 36
Chapter II.—Commencement and Progress in Whale-fishing Enterprise as Commander 42
Sect. 1. Disappointment in his First Command 42
2. His Second Adventure and commencing Prosperity 52
3. Further Successes, with their comparative Relations, in the Ship Henrietta 55
4. Episodical Incident—the Rescue of endangered Pleasurers 65
5. The Greenland Doctor 71
6. Taming of a Bear—interesting Recognition 78
Chapter III.—The Ship Dundee, of London 86
Sect. 1. Entrance on, and general Results of, this new Command 86
2. Dangerous Accident—admirable Tact 89
3. The Dandy Sailor, or “Fine Tommy” 92
4. Unfortunate Voyage, and Adventure in the Greenland Ices 96
5. Successful Stratagem in War 103
6. Extraordinary Exploit in “cutting in,” single-handed, a moderately-grown young Whale 108
Chapter IV.—The Ship Resolution, of Whitby 116
Sect. 1. Continued Prosperity; the Results, comparatively and generally, of this fresh Enterprise 116
2. Treatment and Recovery of a half-frozen Seaman 126
3. Judicious Treatment of Men having suffered from severe Exposure 129
4. The Crow’s Nest 135
5. Extraordinary Celerity in preparing an empty Boat for the Fishery 139
6. Tact and Bravery in attacking and killing a dangerously-resisting Whale 144
7. Remarkable Enterprise: the nearest Approach to the North Pole 152
8. Devotional Habits, at Sea and on Shore 164
Chapter V.—Further Enterprises: General Results 171
Sect. 1. The Greenock Whale-fishing Company 171
2. “Cum au greim a gheibhthu” 174
3. Subsequent and concluding Enterprises 178
4. General Results of his entire Whale-fishing Adventures 185
5. Unusual Capture of Walruses 189
Chapter VI.—General Characteristics, and Miscellaneous Notices 195
Sect. 1. Superiority as an Arctic Navigator 195
2. Natural Science 203
3. Improvements and Inventions 215
4. Miscellaneous and concluding Notices 224

The book also includes interesting statistics about whaling activities and the vessels' finances--it's wonderful to see this book become widely available from Project Gutenberg, like all their titles, in such a nice electronic edition, in so many formats.

Melville and Hawthorne

2011-02-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

Robert McCrum's article, Herman Melville, the last great enigma of American literature : a new fictionalised account tries to unravel the dark secrets of the creator of Moby-Dick (published Jan. 30, 2011 at the Guardian's website) doesn't actually get around to mentioning Jay Parini's new novel, The Passages of Herman Melville, until the end. Until then, it's a witty, engaging introduction to this momentous encounter. His first mention of Melville is captivating:

...Herman Melville who, after a very successful debut (Typee), was struggling to complete an unwieldy coming-of-age tale about a South Seas whaler.

In no more than a couple of screens, McCrum presents many of the reasons why so many have been so interested in Melville for so long.

If you have never read biographical material on Melville, maybe even never read Moby Dick, and wonder what all the hoopla is about, take just a few minutes to read what Robert McCrum has to say on the topic.

Jennifer Ewing's Spirit Boats

2011-01-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

San Francisco artist Jennifer Ewing has been exploring spirit boats through painting and sculpture. The article on her website about her Spirit Boat Series makes for wonderful reading--I don't want to attempt to paraphrase, as her writing is as beautiful as her paintings and sculptures.

If you're interested in exploring boats as an artistic metaphor, or especially in creating boats for personal mental and/or spiritual journeys, explore her website. There are also other locations with photos of her creations:

Her page at artspan.org has nine images
Search "jennifer ewing" "spirit boat" on Flickr to retrieve photos from Anna L. Conti's photostream of Ewing's paintings at the Royce Gallery and of her studio and installations.

So Ends This Day

2011-01-18T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library send along this announcement:

So Ends This Day—The Portuguese in American Whaling

Saturday, January 22, 2011, 6:00 p.m. In the Maritime Library. Donation: $5 (general public); $4 (Library Friends and SFMNPA members)

Historian and author Don Warrin will discuss his new book, So Ends This Day—The Portuguese in American Whaling 1765-1927. In it he tells the story of the Portuguese crewmen who ultimately came to dominate the American whaling industry in its final days on the Pacific coast. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

TIA: The Friends support the Library where I work.

Online Historical Newspapers

2011-01-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Randy Seaver at the Genea-Musings blog posted an interesting list of historical newspaper sites as his Tuesday Tip for Jan. 4, 2011.

The second and third sites on his list have one entry per site--that is, on each of these sites, for example, the California Digital Newspaper Collection is one entry, even though it currently contains twenty-one titles.

The first entry, however, Miriam Robbins Midkiff's Online Historical Newspapers Website, is far more useful. Newspaper titles are listed geographically, currently covering Australia, Canada, and the USA. The site is not comprehensive, and encourages sending in suggestions for new entries. (The New York Times, for example, isn't listed, even though the title is available online back to 1851--for a fee.) Also, look through the listings carefully--the San Francisco Call is listed as San Francisco Call as well as Call, but using the find feature of a browser with a significant word (like "Call") ensures seeing all entries. Newspapers typically available via library subscriptions seem not always present, but over all, it's a very comprehensive list and very useful.

What's the most popular public room on the Minerva?

2011-01-05T09:28:00.001-08:00

According to David Simpson's article in the Daily Mail, it's the library.

He writes about a library that sounds absolutely wonderful under the headline, "Cruise holiday on Swan Hellenic’s Minerva: Who needs water slides when you have a library?" And it's not just any library; it has been cared for by the same person for fourteen years, Victoria Kennedy, and assembled over fifty years to help passengers learn about the places they're visiting. A measure of its success is the passengers' repeat booking rate: 92 percent.

I found one site with a photo of the library, and it looks very comfortable. Plus, they have puzzles!

Records yield 200 years of fish population data

2010-12-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

Dave Mosher's article Old, Ignored Records Yield 200 Years of Fish Population Data was published on Nov. 19, 2010 in Wired Science. Headlines such as "Old, Ignored Records" always make me smile--were they truly ignored? Hadn't they been cataloged and preserved in a library or archive? Of course, the article also uses the phrase "digging up," which also makes me smile--the researchers probably used carefully constructed catalogs and finding aids.

At any rate, the purpose to which they put these records was novel, using them as data sources for fish populations, and Dave Moser's article does provide a wonderful overview of their research, as well as a reminder that we can't always anticipate the future value of the materials preserved in libraries in archives.

Luckily, the product of the research, Coding Early Naturalists' Accounts into Long-Term Fish Community Changes in the Adriatic Sea (1800–2000) by Tomaso Fortibuoni, Simone Libralato, Saša Raicevich, Otello Giovanardi, and Cosimo Solidoro, is available for free online, including their interesting list of books that were analyzed as "Table S1," available as a Word document.

Is SF Bay fished out?

2010-12-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

The December 2-7, 2010, edition of the East Bay Express features Alastair Bland's article, Is San Francisco Bay Fished Out? Even if you're not interested in California's fishery issues, the article is worth reading--the issues that Bland explores impact more than SF Bay's fishers, and more than the area that we think of as San Francisco Bay.

Reading the article made me realize that when I gaze out on the Bay's waters, I see only the surface. I don't see, and often don't think about, the ecosystem beneath the water's surface. I also don't keep in mind that the "boundary" between salt and fresh water is, if you'll forgive the pun, a fluid one. For example, the salmon fishery in California is one that can't be thought of in terms of "marine" or "fresh" waters--reading Bland's article reminded me that California's fishery issues can not be limited to discussions of catching the fish in the salty Bay's waters without considering the issues confronting the fishery upstream, in the fresh waters of the state's interior.

In addition, we can't limit our discussions to the fishers on the water--the issues facing the fisherman don't begin or end on the deck, but reach into the markets and restaurants where we consumers create the demand, and into the hearts of those of us devoted to that moment when we feel the tug of our dinner on the pole in our hands.

I recommend this article to anyone interested in any salt water fishery, past or present--Bland's featuring the fishers in SF Bay creates an awareness of the wider world in which the fish, the fishers, and the diners live. And when we keep in mind the fact that some fish are long-lived, long-distance champions, populating the oceans that circle the globe, it lends greater meaning to the resources, and traditions, that went into putting that filet on our plate.

Crochet Coral Reef in D.C. and N.Y.

2010-12-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Once again, The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is on exhibit! If you're in Washington D.C. or New York City, you have a chance to visit the The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (D.C.), or the portion of it that's on display at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York). In addition, crocheters have created the Smithsonian Community Reef, which is on display with Hyperbolic Reef in D.C.

Whether or not you can go in person, the Smithsonian has provided wonderful resources to enjoy the exhibit remotely. This month the Smithsonian Magazine has a great article by Jess Righthand about the exhibit and the community's creations, and the exhibit website is full of links to resources such as the Flickr and Ravelry groups, as well as links for further information on reefs, hyperbolic space, and how to create your own coral reef creations that you can photograph and share online.

My thanks to my friend Kate for sending this information along!

Dave Porter in the South Seas

2010-12-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

"Another flash lit up the scene."

Illustration by I.B. Hazelton, from the Project Gutenberg edition of Dave Porter in the South Seas, or, The Strange Cruise of the Stormy Petrel, by Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930).

Lighthouse Traveling Libraries

2010-11-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Through the Smithsonian Collections Blog, I've discovered Toniann Scime's very interesting Librarians Between the Covers, and the very interesting post about lighthouse traveling libraries.

I find traveling libraries fascinating, whether small such as these selections in a cabinet, in a traditional bookmobile motoring around, as large as a ship's library, or delivered via camel. The selections tell you something of the lives of the readers.

Sure, we are not of the same mind, when we, today, read the book that a lighthouse keeper read in 1898, but for a short time, the same words kindle our imaginations.

Libraries, Archives, Special Collections Jobs

2010-11-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

Rachael Cristine Woody at the Smithsonian's Freer|Sackler Archives posted "How Can I Get a Job? (Libraries, Archives and Special Collections)" on Oct. 20, 2010, at the Smithsonian Collections blog.

She links to great resources for finding job and educational opportunities in museum libraries and archives, and provides sound advice--and links to more resources--for building a resume rich in social media experience as well as solid grounding in professional standards.

Also of interest to those already in the profession, are the statistics she reports:

Bureau of Labor Statistics 2010-2011 edition for Archivists, Curators and Museum Technicians, you'll see the profession is projected to grow a faster than average 20% by 2018. The statistics for Librarians are also expected to grow at least 8% and job competition to be favorable to potential employees as many librarians retire in the coming years.

Head over there to follow her links to the relevant Bureau of Labor Statistics sites for more info!

Albert Bigelow Paine's The Ship Dwellers

2010-11-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

Originally published by Harper in 1910, The Ship-Dwellers : a story of a happy cruise, by Albert Bigelow Paine with illustrations from drawings by Thomas Fogarty and from photographs, is now available from Project Gutenberg.

Ka'iulani Murphy intervew

2010-11-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

Lindsay Patterson's interview with Ka'iulani Murphy, "Ka’iulani Murphy’s star compass helps navigate oceans," is available in text and audio at one of my favorite blogs, EarthSky.org.

She succinctly describes traditional Hawaiian navigation, which uses the clues in nature to navigate on the ocean, rather than instruments such as a magnetic compass. In the short interview, she addresses how she navigates on cloudy nights when she can't see the stars, and where she plans to travel--around the world.

Ship Drawing at Hauntology

2010-10-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed my recent visit to the Hauntology Exhibit at the Berkeley Art Museum. Although there's currently no online version of the exhibit, one of the most impressive pieces is reproduced in some of the online reviews, and also on Flickr, "Ship Drawing" by Paul Sietsema. Part of a diptych, it's worth seeing in person if you get a chance, not only because of it's size (50 3/4 x 70 in.) but because of the presence of the other half of the diptych. According to Figure 3 : Paul Sietsema, Museum of Modern Art, the work was created by retouching a photograph, copying, and building up layers--the effect of which is enchanting. The work drew me in to examine it closely, yet because of its size, I continually stepped back to take in the whole. It's also a work that has stayed with me, and I hope to visit it again before the exhibit ends.

"Hauntology," a term coined by Jacques Derrida, "is a philosophy of history that upsets the easy progression of time by proposing that the present is simultaneously haunted by the past and the future," according to the BAM website. An interesting concept for museums, historians, and artists.

Pigeon Point Light Station Anniversary

2010-10-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, November 13, 2010, Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park will celebrate its 138th anniversary. According to the flyer (Adobe Acrobat .pdf format), the fresnel lens will be lit, the historic fog signal building & displays open, and the Seal House hostel will hold an open house, plus tours, videos, exhibits, displays, puppet show, and refreshments.

Sounds like a fun time, if you're near Pescadero, California!

Introductions to finding aids

2010-10-13T08:35:00.001-07:00

Sometimes the visitors to our library are new to research, and it's not unusual for a visitor to arrive who has never used a library before. Some aspect of maritime history has intrigued them, and they want to learn more--usually about a ship or an ancestor.

We introduce them to the concept of our library catalog--that it's a listing of materials they can have paged to use here, but that are not for sale, and that they can not take home, and although there are links in the catalog to online materials, most of the items represented in the catalog are hardcopy books that are not available online. This part of the reference interview goes quickly.

Less easy to convey is the concept of an archival finding aid, that is designed to help the researcher decide if all or part of a potentially vast amount of material would be worth paging. Barbara Aikens, at the Smithsonian, has something that might help--"What Are Finding Aids?" on their Smithsonian Collections Blog. It's one of the best introductions I've seen to what exactly a finding aid is, with links for further exploration.

Keep this post in mind for research newbies, and even for experienced researchers--if you're considering research in the vast Smithsonian Archives, give it a read.

Duham's Journal of voyages

2010-10-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

fig. 177, "The Pirates' plan of exercising the nerves of Captives."

Journal of voyages : containing an account of the author's being twice captured by the English and once by Gibbs the pirate; his narrow escape when chased by an English war schooner; as well as his being cast away and residing with Indians, to which is added some account of the soil, products, laws and customs of Chagres, the Musquitto Shore, and St. Blas, at the Isthmus of Darien. With Illustrations, by Captain Jacob Dunham is now available at Project Gutenberg.

Life and Times of Josiah Gardener

2010-09-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library send along the following announcement:

The Life and Times of Josiah Gardener: Master Mariner
Friday, October 8, 2010, 6:00 p.m. In the Maritime Library. Donation: $7 (general public); $5 (Library Friends and SFMNPA members)

Josiah Gardener, master mariner, has been going to sea since before the Civil War—he has fished the Grand Banks, cruised San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, and faced gales and shipwreck. He is played by Dr. Glenn Gordinier, Mystic Seaport historian and former director of Mystic’s living history program. Dr. Gordinier will bring Josiah Gardener to life with exciting and humorous tales of the world of the Yankee seafarer.

For information or reservations: melani_van_petten@partner.nps.gov or 415-561-7040.

TIA: This event is sponsored by the Friends of the library where I work.

Lost libraries

2010-09-23T08:14:00.001-07:00

The Boston Globe recently published a very interesting article, Lost libraries : the strange afterlife of authors’ book collections by Craig Fehrman. The article discusses the various fates of authors' libraries, most often after their death: rarely are they preserved intact in an institution, but are most often broken up and sold. The resources to keep an author's library intact are most often beyond even the largest institutions, but what is lost is what Fehrman calls, the author's "intellectual biography," embodied by the example of what we've learned from Melville's heavily-annotated copy of Paradise Lost, among other author's notated copies of their books.

The article also mentions what can be lost during an author's lifetime--many do not keep all of their books, or a record of their reading.

Are you an author? A researcher? Have you thought about this?

I've written before about efforts to reconstruct catalogs of broken-up libraries on LibraryThing, but since then I have learned a few things about just what a flexible tool it can be. When I had first heard of LibraryThing, I thought, "Why would anyone catalog their own books, unless they own a huge collection?" But since then, I've learned about many more of its features, that allow a person to track their reading and books--not only the ones they own, but ones they don't own, and ones yet to be read.

What makes all this possible is the Collections feature. When you set up an account on LibraryThing, which you can do for free, you have a choice: you can make your profile public or not. You can keep your profile and collections completely private, if you wish. Once you've set up your account, you can create collections, and one book can be in more than one collection. So, for example, if you are working on researching hulls, you can have a few collections such as:

Your Library
Read but unowned
To read
Hulls

And a book can be in more than one collection. So you can track your reading--your citations--by, for example, adding books you've heard about and want to read in your "To read" collection, and after you've read them, you can easily edit the collection(s) a book is in. So one book that you borrowed from a library for your project on hulls could then be put into the "Read but unowned" and "Hulls" collections, and you can note in the book's comments field your own notes about the book. A book you buy on hulls can go into "Your Library" and "Hulls." If you later sell that book, but still want to track the citation, change it to "Read but unowned" and leave it in the "Hulls" collection. Adding books is incredibly easy, with over 600 sources for importing records, easy keying and editing, and if you find you want to download your catalog, you can export it easily in multiple formats.

You may never get to the point that you've actually cataloged your library--you may simply use these features for tracking the citations of various projects, or books you'd like to read. If you've ever had a great book recommended to you and then forgotten who mentioned it, or stood at a bookstore wondering if you already own a copy of the book in your hand or not, LibraryThing may be just the thing for you.

And if you try it, check out the pirate interface, one of many languages available.

International Observe the Moon Night

2010-09-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, September 18, is the first International Observe the Moon Night. Inspired by a national Observe the Moon Night in the U.S., this global event hopes to inspire interest in lunar science, exploration, and astronomy.

National Geographic has a great blog post about the history of the event, complete with lovely photos, a video, and an outline to current and future lunar missions. Rich with links, including a link to the event's main website, the post is a good place to start learning more about the moon.

If you're inspired to go further, whether or not you have a telescope, Chuck Wood's Lunar 100 presents the moon's most interesting observing targets, with instructions for those who do have binoculars and/or a telescope, and links to images for the armchair observer. From there you can follow links to LPOD (Lunar Photo of the Day), maps, and all kinds of learning resources, including recommended children's books.

National Geographic's Crittercams

2010-09-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

I recently read the interesting article about National Geographic's Jumbo Squid Flash, Flail in First Ever Squid-cam Video, and like most of the web versions of their articles, it was loaded with interesting links, such as the one to their Crittercam site.

From there, you can explore "virtual worlds" that are all, to some extent, marine: Antarctica via a leopard seal's crittercam, the Arctic via a bearded seal, or the deep sea via a cam on a sperm whale. The site is very well organized with sections for kids, educators, & researchers, as well as interactive missions, and, of course, maps--plus much, much more.

And if you're interested in scientific papers, do follow the researchers link to Crittercam-Related Publications, a 5-page .pdf file loaded with citations to marine animal imaging.

Virtual exhibit on Zheng He's Fleet

2010-09-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

If you missed "China's Forgotten Fleet: Voyages of Zheng He" at the National Geographic Museum in 2008, you can explore the virtual exhibit at their Flickr site.

The photos are not very large, but are a good size to balance speed of loading with ability to see the details of the exhibit. Navigating through the exhibit via the horizontal thumbnail images of the set (to the right) is very easy. Although the photos weren't taken close enough to allow one to read the panels, the exhibit contained lots of ship models which were photographed from many angles.

The concept of climate-space

2010-09-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

The University of Stavanger in Norway has posted about new research, New ways to chart our maritime past. Meteorologist Marianne Nitter, geologist Lotte Selsing, and marine archaeologist Endre Elvestad (who is at Stavanger Maritime Museum), are combining meteorology and archeology to introduce the concept of "climate-space" to help locate maritime heritage sites:

A climate-space is an area with homogenous temperature, precipitation, wind direction and wind force, Nitter explains. Valleys, groves, mountains, lakes, fiords and slopes are all examples of local climate-spaces.

By employing this concept, it is hoped that landing sites no longer in use may be located--even prehistoric ones.

The article by Siri Pedersen is beautifully translated into English by Astri Sivertsen, and goes on to discuss preservation strategies that may be employed in the future--especially in the light of climate change.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises

2010-08-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

"Figure 8b.—Swimming, blowing, and diving characteristics of humpback, bowhead, right, and sperm whales," from: Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic by Stephen Leatherwood, David Caldwell and Howard Winn (NOAA technical report NMFS CIRC-396), now available at Project Gutenberg.

Although a very detailed, scientific publication, it includes many photographic, line, and spotting silhouette illustrations, of interest to anyone learning how to identify these animals.

Approachable astronomy books

2010-08-18T08:12:00.001-07:00

The Guardian has published another interesting Top 10 reading list, Stuart Clark's top 10 approachable astronomy books. I'm delighted to see the second and third books on the list, Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, and The Book Nobody Read : chasing the revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicusby Owen Gingerich.

I found both books thoroughly engaging through their approaches to their subjects: Galileo's story through his relationship with his daughter, and Copernicus' through Gingerich's study of the history of his famous book. Besides enjoying such well-written history, I was reminded of the methods we use to construct history--how talented authors turn the evidence of letters, books, etc., into these stories of our past.

As much as the study of astronomy helps us discern our position in the universe, these well-written histories help us discern our position in time. I'm looking forward to reading more of the books on this list.

Go for the brewing objects, stay for the canoe

2010-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

The small but dense exhibit, "99 Bottles of Beer: Global Brewing Traditions 2500 B.C. – Present" brought me to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, and it's a wonderful museum to visit. (The objects in the beer exhibit are fascinating--everything from ancient brewing devices to modern cap lifters, from all over the world.) The museum is small, admission is free, and it's packed with exhibits, including "The Conservator’s Art: Preserving Egypt’s Past" which explains in detail differing conservation treatments, how they conserve objects, and just how much such operations cost.

A real treat, though, is a Yurok canoe from 1902 in the California gallery. Surrounded by photographs and explanatory text about the canoe, it's lovely to see in person. Since the museum is so small, there's a limited amount of interpretation, however UC Berkeley's Calisphere offers a lot of history, and the culture section of the official Yurok Tribe website provides more cultural context--worth reading before making a visit.

Calisphere

2010-08-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

The University of California's Calisphere describes itself as, "A world of primary sources and more." If you're looking for specific, primary resources, the search box (on the upper right of the site) returns easily navigated results under a button bar that lets you choose images, texts, or websites, with an additional "search within results" box for easy limiting. And although the site is sponsored by the University of California, it includes resources from many repositories, large and small, and the resources are not limited to those relating to California history--for example, the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, UCLA Hammer Museum, has contributed images from Hiroshige's Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji.

A great strength of the site, though, are the collections for educators which lead to sites external to Calisphere, such as UC San Diego's California Explores the Oceans--Expeditions site, as well as Calisphere sites on topics like Richmond Shipyards.

As for maritime resources, the site contains thousands of items related to boats, ships, shipbuilding, etc. And although the site is rich, it's not comprehensive--it doesn't contain all of the resources from the contributing repositories--it's a curated collection, and a great place to start one's research.

Thinking about time and space

2010-07-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal recently published a fascinating article, Lost in Translation, by Lera Boroditsky. A professor of psychology at Stanford University and editor in chief of Frontiers in Cultural Psychology, her article discusses recent research in how language influences our concepts of space of time.

Some research examines language's influence on its speakers' ability to perform "navigational feats scientists once thought were beyond human capabilities," and links between concepts of space and time.

Also of interest is how learning another language actually changes one's thinking: "If people learn another language, they inadvertently also learn a new way of looking at the world."

U.S. copyright registry of vessel hull designs

2010-07-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled across the U.S. Copyright Office's Registration of Vessel Hull Designs, and it could be a valuable resource for certain researchers. The Vessel Hull Design Registrations list seems to extend back only about a year, and has a lot of entries that indicate changes to existing designs, so the number of designs in the registry seems very small at this point, but shows a variety of vessel types--inflatable boats, many fishing boats, a racing kayak, sail training craft, even a "pleasure mega yacht." The certificate of registration as well as any accompanying drawings or photographs are available as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files, which are often quite large, but very interesting once downloaded and opened. In this respect, the database resembles Google patents, since the accompanying visual materials are available.

Library of the HMS Beagle

2010-07-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

A while ago I posted about the library catalog of the ship's and crew's libraries, reconstructed on LibraryThing. Another Legacy Library of note is cataloged there as well, that of the HMS Beagle. From the "About my Library" section of the Library Profile Page:

This library is based on the Darwin Project's Books on the Beagle reconstruction of the library aboard the HMS Beagle complied "from the Beagle correspondence, CD’s diary, field notebooks, and the extensive zoological and geological notes."

The "Books on the Beagle" article includes the regulations for the library in eight short points, the second of which instructs the user to create a temporary cover for the book being used. I learned about making these in elementary school for my school textbooks, and still make them occasionally--it's surprising how much protection just a sheet of paper can give. I'm not sure how they make them in Darwin's day, but this is the technique that I learned.

Voyage accounts

2010-07-07T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Smithsonian's SIRIS Blog featured excerpts from a newly donated voyage account this past Sunday. The post features Benjamin S. Buckley's diary entries concerning the 4th of July celebrations aboard the Capitol during the voyage from Boston to San Francisco via Cape Horn in 1849. Four pages of the diary are reproduced on the blog, and readers can click through to enlarged versions that will zoom one step further for easy reading.

Last Sunday also saw the release of another voyage account, the complete text of Eleonora Hunt's My Trip Around the World on Project Gutenberg, reproduced from the privately printed edition of 1902. Rather than a diary, this book was prepared later, telling the story of her trip from August 1895 to May 1896, from her home in Chicago, traveling aboard the steamer Empress of Japan, P&O steamers, as well as via other modes through Japan, China, India, Egypt and Europe.

London Lives from Straddling the World of the Written Word

2010-06-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Joan Druett has featured yet another wonderful resource on her blog, Straddling the World of the Written Word, in her post, Handwritten Records of 18th century London Online. The site, London Lives, contains some maritime treasure.

The search box on the home page seeks name or reference ID, but if you select More Search Options (below the black Search button), you can then select Keyword search on the next screen (to the right of the green Search button). Here is the Keyword Search screen where you can search by occupations, such as sailor, seaman, captain or such words as frigate.

To browse tags, be sure to select the Lives link (on the left navigation pane), and you will see the fascinating tag cloud on the lower right of the screen, as well as a list of people, whose biographies have been written.

Genealogists may wish to consult the FAQ (located in the navigation pane on the left under "About This Project"), and historians may want to consult the Copyright and Citation Guide.

The site also reveals a wealth of information under About This Project, including their technical methods, which is fascinating for those considering or involved with similar digitization projects.

Crosscurrents on sea level rise, part 2

2010-06-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

If you enjoyed KALW's Crosscurrents story on how Treasure Island's community's are planning on facing sea level rise, you may want to listen to their continuing coverage, Building by the Bay: Sea level rise shapes the Bay Area’s future. In this follow-up story, they explore Cargill’s Redwood City Saltworks site on San Francisco Bay, and the issues facing its future.

It's a short segment, and as usual, in addition to the audio, a full transcript is available on their website, heavy with links to related information.

Crosscurrents on Sea Level Rise & Treasure Island

2010-06-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful local news show, Crosscurrents (from KALW News), recently aired a very interesting show, Sea level rise is a future challenge for Treasure Island. Treasure Island, which was built in San Francisco Bay as a WPA project, is now home to around 1400 people, and doesn't rise very high above the Bay--according the news story, one corner of the island is regularly flooded by winter waves.

The issue is not a new one for communities in and around San Francisco Bay; a SPUR report, Sea level rise and the future of the Bay Area : How will we adapt to rising tides? from Nov/Dec 2009 is but one publication on the issue. But the Crosscurrents site offers a detailed look at how one, small community is confronting the issue, with very helpful links, and a choice--you can listen to the audio, or read the entire transcript.

I found the story engaging and thought-provoking, and well worth a listen.

Anne-Emmanuelle Marpeau at Penobscot

2010-06-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

Bob Holtzman has kindly written to alert us to a new exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum, Inside the Box -- The Marine Art of Anne-Emmanuelle Marpeau, on exhibit through Sept. 10. Unfortunately, there's not much on their site about the exhibit, but The Gleason Fine Art website has a short article about Marpeau, mentioning the inspiration she finds in a line by Thoreau, "And I converse with many a shipwrecked crew."

This is from a poem called "The Fisher's Boy," which is available on the Thoreau Reader site:

The Fisher's Boy
by Henry David Thoreau

My life is like a stroll upon the beach,
As near the ocean's edge as I can go;
My tardy steps its waves sometimes o'erreach,
Sometimes I stay to let them overflow.

My sole employment is, and scrupulous care,
To place my gains beyond the reach of tides, —
Each smoother pebble, and each shell more rare,
Which Ocean kindly to my hand confides.

I have but few companions on the shore:
They scorn the strand who sail upon the sea;
Yet oft I think the ocean they've sailed o'er
Is deeper known upon the strand to me.

The middle sea contains no crimson dulse,
Its deeper waves cast up no pearls to view;
Along the shore my hand is on its pulse,
And I converse with many a shipwrecked crew.

Lovely thoughts to take along to a maritime museum--to keep in mind when engaging with the items on exhibit.

Astrodene's HNF Blog

2010-06-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

There's a new blog in our list, Astrodene's HNF Blog, part of the large Astrodene's Historic Naval Fiction site. Although a commercial site, there is a lot of good information organized creatively. For example, with the books timeline you can browse titles by time period, going back to 1571. When you select a title, the site's commercial aspects are obvious with prominent Amazon buttons, but don't forget--your local maritime museum book store or independent book seller may offer these titles for sale as well, and titles may also be available used via sites such as ABEBooks or TomFolio.

The HNF Blog also points to another resource of interest, the free magazine, Chronicles, the eMagazine of History, which now contains a new column by Astrodene's David Hayes beginning with the June issue, and the issue before that starts out with two naval history articles. Chronicles has one of the best online flip-book features I've seen, loading quickly with a pleasant on-screen reading experience, yet also provides a free .pdf download for portability. And, authors, do check out their information for writers because they're actively seeking nonfiction submissions, and they pay.

Hard Luck Coast

2010-06-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

The second book in JoAnn Semones' trilogy about shipwrecks along the California coast has been published, Hard Luck Coast: The Perilous Reefs of Point Montara." JoAnn tells us:

California writer John Steinbeck referred to the treacherous strip of shore between
Montara and Half Moon Bay as “the hard luck coast.” Along this foggy, final approach to San Francisco, vessels were forced to hug the shoreline, putting them in danger of its rocky outcroppings and unruly seas. Each shipwreck represents a separate, yet integrated piece of history, linking us to the past.

She also mentions that the lighthouse pictured on the book cover is only thirty feet tall, and is America's only "sentinel to have witnessed shipwrecks on two shores," apparently after a sojourn on Yerba Buena Island. A California State Park Property, the lighthouse houses a hostel where you can stay and contemplate this hard luck coast.

The Bleached Reef at the Cooper-Hewitt

2010-05-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

""The Bleached Reef" at the Chicago Cultural Center. Oct 2007," photo copyright The IFF by Margaret Wertheim, source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84445194@N00/1806457035/

The Institute for Figuring's Bleached Reef is now on exhibit in New York at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in the Why Design Now? National Design Triennial.

Similar to the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, the Bleached Reef is a delicate creation designed to raise awareness of effects of climate change and ocean acidification upon coral reefs--the beauty of the handcrafted reef vividly embodies the impact of humanity upon a marine ecosystem that we can't normally visit.

And if you can't visit the exhibit in New York, stay tuned to Margaret Wertheim's photostream on Flickr where she often posts photos from reef exhibits.

Lost at sea : daring fiber artists delve into the deep

2010-05-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

If you can't make it to New York to visit gallery hanahou to see Lost at sea, you can check out and even purchase items from the exhibit via their online shop. There's a wonderful variety of techniques and forms--embroidered ships, three-dimensional creatures (real and imaginary)--even plankton and mixed-media assemblages.

I heard of the exhibit from the blog of one of the participating artists, Jenny Hart, Embroidery as Art, which doesn't have a lot of maritime content, but is worth checking out if you're interested in, or intrigued by, embroidery as an art form.

And if you want to explore more works by the participating artists, at the exhibition website, you can scroll down (inside the frame) for links to artists' sites.

The Wailing Octopus

2010-05-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Wailing Octopus by John Blaine, "A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story," has recently been released by Project Gutenberg.

Some of the chapter titles are irresistible: "The Fancy Frogmen," "Wreck of the 'Maiden Hand,'" "How Sings the Gay Sardine?"

At the end of the eBook is a brief description of the hero:

Rick Brant is the boy who with his pal Scotty lives on an island called Spindrift and takes part in so many thrilling adventures and baffling mysteries involving science and electronics.

Science and electronics are definitely two important ingredients for maritime adventure!

Tom Crean—Sailor On Ice

2010-05-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

Our friends group, Friends of the
San Francisco Maritime Museum Library, sends along this announcement:

Tom Crean—Sailor On Ice
Saturday, May 8, 2010, 6:00 p.m. In the Maritime Library. Donation: $5 (general public); $4 (Library Friends and SFMNPA members)

David Hirzel, author of the forthcoming book, Tom Crean—Sailor On Ice, will tell the story of the Antarctic adventures of Irish sailor and explorer Tom Crean. There are more famous names than Crean’s from the “heroic age” of Antarctic exploration, but there are few stories as compelling as his. Time and again he was one of three, at times the only one, whose courage in the face of insurmountable odds saved the lives of his companions. The three parts to the story of Crean’s adventures with Scott and Shackleton are told in the names the ships—Discovery, Terra Nova, Endurance.

Dave originally came to SF Maritime to do research for this book and became a volunteer. He now runs the Park's Living History program.

If you can't make it to San Francisco for the event, you can check out the audio drama & visual companion, or David Hirzel's other writings.

Sea Rose fits in your pocket

2010-04-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the Academy of American Poets' Poem in Your Pocket Day. To celebrate, select a poem, pocket it, carry it, and share it throughout the day.

I'll be carrying one of my favorites, H.D.'s "Sea Rose," from the collection Sea Garden:

Sea Rose

Rose, harsh rose,
marred and with stint of petals,
meagre flower, thin,
sparse of leaf,

more precious
than a wet rose
single on a stem—
you are caught in the drift.

Stunted, with small leaf,
you are flung on the sand,
you are lifted
in the crisp sand
that drives in the wind.

Can the spice-rose
drip such acrid fragrance
hardened in a leaf?

The geometry of rope

2010-04-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder about the physical rules behind a good rope? Intrigued by the phrase, "zero-twist point?" Then you would enjoy Alexandra Witze's article in ScienceNews, Physicists untangle the geometry of rope.

Her article gives a basic, brief overview of the mathematics behind the process of turning strands into rope, as revealed in Jakob Bohr & Kasper Olsen's article, The ancient art of laying rope.

How did the researchers come to work on rope winding? From their work on DNA, of course!

On a few of Carsten Jensen's top 10 seafaring tales

2010-04-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

Today the Guardian posted Carsten Jensen's top 10 seafaring tales. It's a wonderful list--I've read many of the titles, and am looking forward to reading many more.

He doesn't mention specific editions, so here are some of my favorite editions of a few of his top seafaring titles:

The Odyssey of Homer. Translated, with an introduction, by Richmond Lattimore. Lattimore's translations are are just beautiful, and have become the standard texts for students and pleasure readers alike. The Internet Archive has archived a biographical sketch by Deborah E. Kamen which includes a complete bibliography of his works, including his translations and poetry, if you want to read more.
Moby-Dick, or, The Whale, published by the University of California Press. This is a reduced, trade version of the Arion Press Moby-Dick, which was published in 1979 in a limited edition of 250 copies. If a library near you has the Arion Press edition, go see it--it's gorgeous. The paper is the most delicate watery blue, and the Barry Moser engravings seem alive. The typeface, in both editions is easy on the eyes, and the UC Press edition is large enough for comfortable reading, yet small enough to carry around in a satchel.
"The Little Mermaid," in: The annotated Hans Christian Andersen translated by Maria Tatar. I haven't yet read this edition, so I'm going out on a limb by recommending it, but I do so without hesitation having enjoyed Tatar's other translations immensely. Her list of publications includes academic titles as well as her beautiful editions of folk and fairy tales.

Seized by Max Hardberger

2010-04-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Michael Bono has written in about a new book by Max Hardberger, Seized! A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters. Available in hardback in the U.S. on April 6, 2010 and in the U.K. in paperback on June 13, 2010, the author:

... recounts his adventures repossessing ships and sneaking them out of lawless, third-world countries, often under threat of death or imprisonment. His journeys lead him from corrupt ports in the Caribbean to the ice-bound docks of Vladivostok. His adventures in rescuing ships pit him against a rogue’s gallery of antagonists, including Haitian rebels, modern-day Caribbean pirates, and Russian mobsters.

--from the author's website.

Want to learn even more? Check out the author's newsletter!

Stack fever

2010-04-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

The following will be featured in the upcoming newsletter of the Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library, Relative Bearings. The discovery of this text was a happy coincidence, as librarians everywhere have been gearing up to celebrate National Poetry Month. It was decided to share it here, also, along with an editorial comment, in the hope of reaching a wide audience:

Stack Fever
by A. Poppet-Turning

I must go down to the Stacks again,
To the lonely shelves and bays,
And must take along some sustenance,
'Cause I could be lost for days.

I must go down to the Stacks again,
To page requested books,
That have been shelved hither and yon,
In overfull shelves and nooks.

Oh, I must go down to the Stacks again,
Where the light bulbs go to die,
And all I ask is an empty cart,
And a torch to steer her by.

------

A typescript copy of the above poem was found tucked into the Library's copy of English maritime books printed before 1801, apparently used as a bookmark. Examination of the Library's records failed to reveal either a staff member or volunteer bearing the name A. Poppet Turning, and further research yielded no fruitful results, although it is wondered, perhaps, if the author is related to the South Kensington Poppet-Turnings. (The use of the word "torch" for "flashlight" seems to indicate the author's mother tongue may have been British English.) It is hoped that further research may be illuminating. --Ed.

This is, of course, a parody of John Masefield's "Sea Fever," but that's about as much as is known. If any readers have any information on either A. Poppet-Turning, or his (or her) works, do get in touch--our researchers would be grateful for any leads.