(WHALING) Tripp Alden W Manuscript journal kept aboard the w

Sale 2148 - Lot 367

Price Realized: $ 13,200

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

Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000

FINE WHALING JOURNAL WITH UNUSUALLY GOOD CONTENT (WHALING.) Tripp, Alden W. Manuscript journal kept aboard the whaling ship Petrel in the Atlantic and South Pacific. Illustrated with drawings and more than 100 whale stamps. 62, [222] pages. Folio (338 x 210 mm), 1/2 morocco over marbled boards, normal wear. The early pages include a printed card titled "Treatment of Drowned Persons"; a list of officers; a tally of whales raised on board by each crew member; and a collage illustration of a whale being harpooned. Appearing after the journal are a detailed chart of bespoke vessels; Tripp's personal financial accounts; signatures of all crew members with their ports of origin (mostly in Massachusetts and the Azores); a list of signals; and five pages of additional whale stamps with notes on location and yield. Vp, 9 September 1857 to 2 March 1862

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Tripp was a petty officer aboard the Petrel, and wrote with a light touch. After an unpleasant encounter with the crew of another ship, he wrote: "Their was but one man on board, and that was the captains wife" (17 December 1857). On liberty in New Zealand for New Year's Eve: "about 30 of us all told with tin kittles and fiddles and some other instruments of war too numerous to mention. Went serronadeing the town until 3 A in the morning. We had a jolly olde time of it, and to top it off we danced until daylight" (31 December 1861). He also describes frequent bartering for food with islanders, his brawl with the third mate, and the death of a crewmate. In addition to the whale stamps, Tripp also utilized stamps of ships, pigs, dolphins, and turkeys to illustrate his account.

The Petrel was a New Bedford vessel under Capt. William C. Fuller, and returned home 3 months after the conclusion of this journal, having collected 1,409 barrels of sperm oil--Starbuck, pages 550-1.