(MARITIME) Mercantile papers of Captain John Moulton

Sale 2310 - Lot 174

Price Realized: $ 1,320

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(MARITIME.) Mercantile papers of Captain John Moulton. Approximately 229 manuscript documents, 0.3 linear feet, including 23 mercantile letters sent and received, including some sailing instructions from ship owners; 6 letters from Moulton to his wife; 45 mercantile documents including crew lists, protests, and certificates; 5 diary extracts and fragments; and 150 mercantile receipts, invoices, and other financial papers; various conditions, but no general problems. Vp, 1778-1823, bulk 1793-1806

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John Moulton (1762-1824) was a sea captain from Wenham, MA. These papers are from voyages of the ships Mary, Nancy, Rambler, and Reward of Newburyport, sailing throughout Europe, the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast. Six tender letters to his wife give this collection a more personal touch. Moulton wrote in 1803, "All I could wish is for a pair of wings, so that I could fly and see you one day & back the next." In 1805, he wrote about his son's letter (apparently without irony): "Incorage him to persivear in his spelling, as their was a few words spelt wrong, & good spelling is the beauty of writing." Also of interest is a seaman's protection certificate issued to the captain's 12-year-old son John Moulton in 1799. Most dramatic is a retained draft of his 15 August 1798 letter to his ship's owner, written from Havana: "I am sorry to inform you that I had the misfortune to be captured . . . westward of Cape Antonio by the French privateer schooner Revenge."