From the Arctic Circle to the South Seas whaling was the backbone industry for many people and cultures. Born in Nantucket and refined in New Bedford, whaling dominated the global market for over two hundred years leaving its mark on many spheres of influence, including the literary. Melville's Moby-Dick is considered by many to be the "great American novel." Here is a cross-section of books on whaling that should give some idea as to the scope and magnitude of this once great industry and how it shaped our country as well as the lives of those who called themselves whalers.

Greasy Luck: A Whaling Sketchbook Gordon Grant Dover © Aug. 2004 $9.95 paperback		An eloquent, accurate portrayal of the American whaling industry as it existed for almost two centuries, this superb account of a whaling voyage and its adventures is dramatically captured by 64 of the author's full-page drawings. All the excitement, tedium, exhaustion, and joy of catching these mammoths of the sea is depicted -- from the thrill of a whale breaching and a "Nantucket sleigh ride" to examples of scrimshaw art and views of the foc's'le, galley, and deck. The book's title comes from the cheering crowds at dockside, seeing a whaling crew off and wishing them "Greasy Luck."

Gone A-Whaling: The Lure of the Sea and the Hunt for the Great Whale Jim Murphy Houghton Mifflin Co. © May 2004 $8.95 paperback		In the early days of whaling, whales were plentiful and it seemed that they would always fill the sea. When people realized how much money could be made from whales in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, entire species were wiped out in the rush to hunt these gentle and magnificent creatures. This account is an even-handed portrayal of the exciting, grisly, and sometimes profitable business of pelagic whaling, told from the perspective of young whalers through their detailed journal entries and letters.

Scrimshaw: A Complete Illustrated Manual Steve Paszkiewicz and Roger Schroeder Fox Chapel Publishing Co. © Jul. 2004 $14.95 paperback		In its simplest form, the art of scrimshaw is engraving done on pieces of ivory and ivory substitutes, often with colors and tints added to accentuate the design. Its origin dates back to the time of the American whaling industry when sailors at sea, mired in vacuums of inactivity, would practice the craft while also passing it along to their fellow sailors. Recognized as an indigenious American art form, modern artisans and craftspeople are now reviving this classic technique using today's materials. In this second edition of Scrimshaw: A Complete Illustrated Manual, professional scrimshander Steve Paszkiewicz and veteran writer/carver Roger Schroeder proved the tips and updated techniques neede to successfully create your own authentic Scrimshaw art with tools and supplies from your local art supply store.

The Ports of Old Rochester: Shipbuilding at Mattapoisett and Marion Edward F. R. Wood, Jr. Old. Dartmouth Historical Society © 2004 $39.95 hardcover		The Mattapoisett and Marion shipyards turned out some of the most beautiful, well-built vessels to be employed in the maritime trades of Southeastern Massachusetts. Even the stout whalers Niger, Platina, and Wanderer are known to historians for their pleasing lines and successful careers. Now Ned Wood's facsinating reference work can take its place in the library of the local or whaling historian. Beautifully laid out, the book contains a wealth of data on each vessel built in the area, as well as the whaling voyages begun from each of the towns. In addition to being an important reference work, The Ports of Old Rochester is a good read to boot, as it is also a compilation of contemporary articles relating to the vessels and ports in question. These articles, most unseen for a century by anyone but an occasional researcher, are a fascinating window on an era when the yankee whaling trade was current news.

On Board the Morgan: America's Last Wooden Whaler Hosted By David Littlefield Mystic Seaport Museum © 1992 $14.95 VHS video		One hundred and fifty years ago, whales were hunted for their oil to light American homes and supply American industry. A great fleet of ships combed the seas for years on end. Their shipboard communities linked men of all races and nationalities -- and even some captain's wives -- in a life of boredom punctuated by the intense excitement and danger of the hunt. But times changed: petroleum and plastics have replaced whale products, and we now admire and study, rather than hunt, the magnificent whale. Of all the sailing American Whaleships, only one has survived: the Charles P. Morgan, now berthed at Mystic Seaport Museum. As part of it's 150th anniversary celebration for the famous ship, the Museumprepared this program to explain a vanished and misunderstood American maritime industry. Written with the younger audience in mind, On Board the Morgan will fascinate viewers of all ages. Mystic Seaport's David Littlefield, the host, provides insight and knowledge of the industry as he introduces viewers to the last wooden whaleship in existence. David takes us on a tour of the ship from masthead to storage hold. Archival photographs, drawings, and rare film footage, interwoven with selected readings from Herman Melville's Moby Dick bring thi enlightening, educational, and well paced program to life.

Harpoons and Other Whalecraft Thomas G. Lytle Old. Dartmouth Historical Society © 1984 $54.00 hardcover		The forging of whaling implements is one of the many small industries that supplied the yankee whaling trade throughout the Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. Industrious blacksmiths and engineers set up shops in and around New Bedford to manufacture and refine the harpoons, lances, and spades used and abused in the whale fishery. Today their handiwork is found in the storage drawers of museums and on the walls of proud collectors. These implements have become sought-after relics of a long lost ear, and of a maritime trade infused by the imagination with adventure and prosperity. Lytle's impressive book is both an invaluable reference work for the collector or whaling enthusiast, and a fascinating chronology of the trade for the historian with an appetite for the details of "whaling tech" not found in conventional histories. Artists, writers, and model builders as well, can benefit from having this volume handy, as it places each advancement in harpoon design and technology within its context and time frame, allowing one to portray the era accurately. A definite must-have for the local historian's bookshelf.

In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon Joan Druett Algonquin Books © May 2003 $14.95 paperback		On May 25, 1841, the whaleship Sharon of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, set out for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific under the command of Captain Howes Norris. Through recently discovered journals of the ship's cooper and the third officer, award-winning maritime historian Joan Druett pieces together the true story of one of history's most notorious mutinies. Dramatically and meticulously recreating the events of the Sharon, Druett reveals a voyage filled with savagery and madness under the command of one of the most ruthless captains to sail the high seas.

Ambassador to the Penguins: A Naturalist' Year Aboard a Yankee Whaleship Eleanor Mathews David R. Godine © Nov. 2003 $29.95 hardcover		In 1912, a young naturalist named Robert Cushman Murphy was offered the opportunity of a lifetime - to spend two years on one of the last Yankee whaleships out of New Bedford, on a voyage to Antarctica. During the voyage, Murphy kept a journal, packing it with observations of his experiences on board, both as a naturalist and as a witness to a disappearing way of life. Ellie Mathews, his granddaughter, has now taken this extraordinary diary, updating & supplementing it with never-before-published information and his own original photographs.

Moby-Dick: A Picture Voyage Herman Melville Spinner Publications © 2003 $50.00 hardcover $30.00 paperback		Moby-Dick: A Picture Voyage is the first edition of Melville's classic novel to be fully-illustrated with historical images depicting the whaling culture as Melville himself experienced it -- and so eloquently described it -- more than 150 years ago. This 224-page, large format book is a very readable and meticulously edited abridgement that maintains the drama and continuity of the complete novel. Most of the more than 200 original photographs and 150 paintings, drawings, engravings and artifacts used to illustrate the text were created by whalemen during the 19th century. The selection includes beautifully-crafted entries from logbooks, journals and scrimshaw, as well as paintings from some of the most important 19th-century marine artists. Many images are drawn from the world-famous collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum and Kendall Institute, the largest repository of whaling prints and artifacts in the world. Images were also obtained from private collections, rare books, old films and libraries.

Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea 1820-1920 Joan Druett Univ. Press of New England © 2001 $16.95 paperback		This informative book, first published in 1991, highlights the stories of the wives of whaling masters who actually went to sea with their husbands. These dedicated women, sometimes with young children at their side, exerted a calming, moral influence on both the captain and his crew. That they managed to maintain a home of sorts in the tiny stern cabins of whaleships is impressive. That they did so while sometimes serving as impromptu medical officer or surrogate captain is nothing short of amazing. As with all of Druett's books, this volume is an essential part of any nautical history library, particularly those highlighting whaling or women at sea.

Eye of the Whale Dick Russell Shearwater Books © 2004 $22.00 paperback		That the gray whale exists today is nothing short of miraculous. Whaling fleets twice massacred the species to near extinction - first during the nineteenth century and again during the early part of the twentieth century. Eye of the Whale shows the life-changing effect the gray whale has had upon people past and present - whalers, hunters, marine scientists, whale watchers, and even businessmen - who have looked into the eye of the great beast and have come away transformed. Over the course of this astonishing book, which also traces the remarkable history of the great whaler Charles Melville Scammon, the gray whale emerges as a millennial metaphor, mirroring a host of ecological, political, and social issues concerning our relationship to nature.

In Search of Moby Dick Tim Severin Da Capo Press © 2000 $13.50 paperback		If Captain Ahab had to follow the white whale "around perdition's flames," it was only because he didn't have this book with him. Was the Godlike cetacean of Melville's epic novel based on a real animal? That is the question before author Tim Severin as he begins retracing the journeys of both Herman Melville and the fictional Pequod. The result is part ethnographic study of the Pacific Islands and part mariner's log. But unlike Ahab, Severin searches not for vengeance, but rather insight.

A Whale Hunt Robert Sullivan Scribner © 2000 $13.00 paperback		Neah Bay is a tiny town on the most northwestern tip of America, home to the Makah, a Native American tribe. For centuries the hunting of the whale was what defined the tribe, but when commercial whaling drove the gray whale to near extinction in the 1920s, the Makah voluntarily discontinued their tradition. In 1994, the gray whale was taken off the endangered species list and the Makah decided to hunt again. Faced with problems endemic to other reservations, including poverty, unemployment and alcoholism, many tribe members believed that a traditional whale hunt would inject the community with a renewed sense of pride and purpose. There was only one problem: All the old whalers were dead. Robert Sullivan chronicles the two years he spent with the Makah as they prepared to stage their first hunt.

Captain Ahab Had a Wife Lisa Norling Chapel Hill © 2000 $19.95 paperback		Author Lisa Norling taps a rich vein of sources Ð including letters, diaries, ship owners' records etc. - to reconstruct the lives of the "Cape Horn widows", wives of seamen who were left behind for years at a time while their husbands whaling. Norling begins with the emergence of colonial whalefishery on the island of Nantucket and then follows the industry to mainland New Bedford in the nineteenth century, tracking the parallel shift from a patriarchal world to the more ambiguous culture of domesticity in the Victorian age. Through the sea-wives' compelling stories, Norling exposes the painful discrepancies between gender ideals and the reality of maritime life.

In the Heart of the Sea Nathaniel Philbrick Penguin Books © 2000 $14.00 paperback		The ordeal of the Essex was as well known in its time as the story of the Titanic is today. Now, in this riveting and critically acclaimed bestseller, Nathaniel Philbrick returns an epic tale to its rightful place in American history. Told with flair of an adventure novel, Philbrick recounts the history of the whaleship Essex in a manner that captivated readers and earned him a National Book Award.

Herman Melville Elizabeth Hardwick Viking © 2000 $19.95 hardcover		Moby-Dick has been called "the quintessential American novel" by many literary critics, however Herman Melville remained unappreciated in his lifetime. Now, a century after his death, Elizabeth Hardwick analyzes "the whole of Melville's work, uneven as it is, and the challenging shape of his life." With novelistic flair, Hardwick reveals the former deckhand who managed to seduce the American public with his travel exploits yet never won the literary respect he craved. From the romance of his whaling days to the bitterness of his final years, Hardwick tells the story of "an extraordinary American genius."

Twice Round the Loggerhead Lance R. Lee Leete's Island Books © 1999 $35.00 hardcover		Azorean whaleboats, longer, sleeker descendants of the craft once lowered by Yankee whaleships, were and are as colorful as the men who built and hunted with them. The lush, rocky landscape of the Azores is the setting for this beautifully detailed travelogue through the history of whaling in these waters. The culture of the islands and the fading memories of the last Azorean boat-builders are ingredients in the construction of a new boat, the Bela Vista, whose construction is documented in a series of watercolors by Yvon Le Corre. Any collection on New Bedford and whaling is incomplete without this book.

Ahab's Trade Granville Allen Mawer St. Martin's Press © 1999 $29.95 hardcover		Gladiator one minute, galley slave the next. Danger and abuse, excitement and tedium, these were the lot of open boat whalemen in the South Seas for more then two centuries. The Nantucketers, first and best, taught the world. Then manifest destiny beckoned over the oceans as well as across a continent and Americans made the Savage South their other frontier, as open and lawless as the Wild West. Ahab's Trade tracks the rise and fall of this first truly global industry and tells the story of the men who made it.

The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex Owen Chase, Intro by Gary Kinder Harcourt Brace © 1999 $12.00 paperback		A gallant saga of the sea, this riveting narrative by first mate Owen Chase inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick. On the morning of November 20, 1820, in the Pacific Ocean, an enraged sperm whale rammed the Nantucket whaler Essex. The crew of twenty only had time to collect some bread and water before setting out in three frail lifeboats with no sea charts and thousands of miles from any known land. Of the twenty men, only eight survived the heat, starvation and grueling conditions. The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is still a classic tale of human endurance and courage.

Melville: A Biography Laurie Robertson-Lorant Univ. of Massachusetts Pr. © 1996 $22.95 paperback		"Drawing on more than five hundred newly discovered letters, this book immerses the reader in the often turbulent world of Herman Melville, from his childhood to his seafaring days, to his often frustrating career as a writer. With energetic prose and an unerring eye for psychological nuance, Laurie Robertson-Lorant explores the forces that shaped the man: the women and children in his life, his enigmatic relationship with Nathaniel Hawthorne, the psychosexual tensions that informed his art, his struggles against debt, his disappointment about failing to win a popular audience for his more serious work, and the alcoholism and violence that plagued his family. Melville is a brilliant account of one of America's preeminent literary geniuses." (from the back cover)

Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic John R. Bockstoce Univ. of Washington Pr. © 1986 $29.95 paperback		From respected enthnologist and New Bedford resident, John Bockstoce, comes a painstakingly researched and highly readable account of the inner workings of the contemporary arctic whaling fishery. Bockstoce reaches beyond polemics and politics to provide the reader with an objective, detailed exploration of the business of whaling, covering equipment, working conditions, economics, shipwrecks, governmental faux pas, and family life. Bockstoce spent ten years performing the monumental task of hunting the meat of this book, as he simultaneously hunted bowhead whales with Alaskan natives, and explored archaeological whaling sites along the icebound shores of the western Arctic. The result is a book which Pacific Historical Review has called "a classic in the large literature of whaling history."