Apr 13, 2023 - Sale 2633

Sale 2633 - Lot 116

Price Realized: $ 1,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(MARITIME.) Alexander F. Snow. Log of a journey from San Francisco to China and Japan. [86] manuscript logbook pages plus 4 incomplete ship illustrations. Folio, original 1/2 calf over marbled boards, moderate wear, joints starting; early pages formerly used as a scrapbook but clippings removed without affecting legibility of the manuscript. Various places, August 1866 to November 1867
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

Alexander F. Snow (1842-1920) was born and raised in Harwich, MA on Cape Cod. Son of sea captain Thomas Snow, he soon became a captain in his own right. This log traces his command of the barque Japan on a troubled Pacific voyage. The Japan set out from San Francisco toward Hong Kong, but encountered a "heavy sea" just hours after leaving port which "parted main topgallant backstay and carried away topgal't mast" (2 August 1866). The ship's carpenter was soon able to replace the mast but the pumps remained hard at work for days. A close observation of the pumps remained a running theme of the voyage, with strokes per hour often noted. On the night of 9 September, "passed Volcano Island, one of the Ladrone Group. Saw a large light on it, supposed it to be throwing out lava." This coincided with another storm, with "one sea nearly filling cabin. Carrying all possible sail to clear the island before the gale gets too severe." Nine days later, "shipped two large seas on deck, one of them broke through cabin door and filled cabin. Got it out as quick as possible." On 24 September, "opened main hatch to see if potatoes were rotting, found quite a number pretty bad, not quite bad enough to condemn." The barque reached Hong Kong on 27 September and saw "several junks standing off shore."

Next stop was Iloilo in the Philippines to take on thousands of bags of sugar. There seaman George Gutherie deserted with his effects, but was arrested and imprisoned by the consul (22 November). Soon after leaving port for Shanghai, "found two natives on board stowed away. On questioning them, found they wanted to get to China" (9 January 1867). He had more trouble with his deserting crewman: "George Gutherie (seaman) invalid with asthma, gave him medicine as per directions" (17 January 1867). The medicine was later revealed to be ether and laudanum; he remained incapacitated for weeks. The barque next visited Yokohama on 17 March 1867, and then Newchwang (Yingkou) and Amoy (Xiamen) in China. They stopped in Surabaya (Indonesia) for repairs. The log ends with the barque's arrival at Sydney, Australia on 28 December 1867, with additional memoranda noting trips from Sydney to San Francisco in 1868. 4 pages of reports summarize the barque's voyages from 1866 to 1868, ending with Captain Snow's impressions of his ship: "The Japan has always been a leaky vessel. Twice I joined her as master, and as long as she remains a vessel will always be the same. In fine smooth weather, she is as tight as possible, but the moment she commences to work and a little sea on, she commences her old capers. . . . I would not make a rough weather passage in her again if I should get her as a present. What would she be to me but a coffin, a grave."


With--an account book kept by Alexander Snow's father Captain Thomas Snow aboard the bark J.W. Seaver and the brig Rolling Wave. It traces expenses for crew, pilots, and supplies in ports ranging including Shanghai, Hakodadi, Nagasaki, Yokohama, the Amur River, Havana, and more. [36] manuscript pages. Folio, 1/4 calf, moderate wear, 1863-1868.

Account book kept by Alexander Snow aboard the schooner Maggie Andrews. 70, [1] manuscript pages. Folio, 1/2 morocco, minor wear; 2 leaves removed, 1889-1893.

Alexander Snow's October 1862 seaman protection certificate.

and a receipt in Japanese issued to Alexander Snow for the ship Japan at the Kanagawa Custom House.