Charles Henry Wilbur’s Record Book of Whales Seen and Taken by Ship Young Phoenix and Bark Seine, in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 1864-1875. An illustrated account of each whale, where it was taken, who took it and how many barrels of oil it yielded. Eleven pages arranged in columns depict approximately 27 blackfish, 10 baleen whales, 40 spouting sperm whales, 28 other sperm whales and the tails of 16 whales not taken, in ink, ink stamp and pencil. Such records were highly prized by whaling captains and kept locked away and protected from spies. That Wilbur was asked to record this information shows he was respected and trusted by his master Edward P. Shiverick. The back of the journal is taken up with navigational notes; bound in original marbled boards.
Height 8 ¼ in.

Provenance: Sotheby’s New York Barbara Johnson Whaling Collection: Part IV, December 16 & 17, 1983, lot 422; Northeast Auctions August 17 & 18, 2013, lot 763A

Exhibited: Newark Museum, Princeton Historical Society