sailing into the future

[sergebroom]

I'd like to find out about the sea-merchant ships of the 2nd half of the 19th century, and especially the life of their sailors. Would you have some recommendations as to where to look? There probably are web sites that my lame Googe Fu would miss. Or good-old fashioned books about this, and possibly novels that were written back then. It was an era where things were in transition, with ships becoming motorized while still keeping their old masts and sails. And isn’t this when all-metal hulls were introduced?

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

<href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/two_years_before_the_mast">Two Years Before the mast is probably a good starting point--it was written about a voyage made in the 1830s, and so gives a good base point for any changes.

I'm also thinking Joseph Conrad's novels and memoirs would be a good place to check. The biographies cited in that article are also likely to have books about maritime matters in their bibliographies. I'm betting that if your local public library doesn't have any of them, the U of New Mexico one will.

Then there's this one, and may I suggest that you take advantage of a nifty Amazon feature--down near the bottom of the page is the "Customers who bought this book also bought" which gives a bunch of related titles, and if you take advantage of the same feature on those titles, you should have a stack of books tall enough to give Agatha a great view of the world she commands.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Perfect! These are exactly what I was looking for. I had thought that Conrad might be a good place to look, if only because of Lord Jim, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for that link and for those book recommendations!

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Here's a Gutenberg text that has an interesting bibliography at the end, and may itself be a good book, too: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=3099

I believe "Moby Dick" is about hunting some kind of sea-creature, rather than merchanting, but it may have some useful detail.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

"Moby Dick" is about hunting some kind of sea-creature

Cecil the sea-sick Sea Serpent?

Thanks for the link.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

There's also this French chappie, Jules Verne, you might have heard of.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, him... He did write La Ville Flottante, which was not SF at all, but pretty much a travelogue set on that modern marvel, Brunel's Great Eastern.

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

Other than what's already been mentioned, I can also recall enjoying Hen Frigates, a book about women at sea in the 19th century. It looks like the author has done research on the seafaring life.

My outlaw internet connection is back! I've been blocked from almost everywhere interesting while at work.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Duly noted. In 1986, I visited the Balclutha at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. It's a sailing ship built in 1886, with a metal hull. One thing that I remember vividly is that the Captain's wife also lived on the ship, and, contrary to the clicheé, that was seen as a good thing because her being around forced the crew to cut down on the harsh language.

(As for your internet connection, I was wondering you were up to. It was quiet, too quiet.)

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Two years before the mast, by Richard Henry Dana.

I don't know how well Melville would do, but Billy Budd, Sailor, and Las Encantadas are books he wrote by/about his sailing days.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Wasn't there a movie version of Billy Budd done in the 1960s, starring Terrence Stamp?