THE WRECK OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX
A First-hand Account of One of History's Most Extraordinary Maritime Disasters

NEW copy. (London: Headline Book Publishing, 1999). Hardcover with pictorial dust jacket. Illustrated with plates, headers & tailpieces. Decorated endpages, glossary, 208 pages. Introduction by Gary Kinder.

"The incredible adventure that inspired Moby Dick, as told by one of its few survivors. On the morning of November 20, 1820, in the Pacific Ocean, an enraged sperm whale rammed the Nantucket whaler Essex. As the boat began to sink, her crew of thirty had time only to collect some bread and water before pulling away in three frail open boats. Without charts, alone on the open seas, and thousands of miles from any known land, the sailors began their terrifying journey of survival. Ninety days later, after much suffering and death by starvation, intense heat, and dehydration, only eight men survived to reach land. One of them was Owen Chase, first mate of the ill-fated ship, whose account of the long and perilous journey has become a classic of endurance and human courage. The elements of his tale inspired Herman Melville (who was born the year the Essex sank) to write the classic Moby Dick".

"On 12 August, 1819, Owen Chase, a Yankee seaman, became the first mate of the whaleship Essex. A survivor of one of the most chilling maritime disasters of the nineteenth century, his account of the ship's long and dangerous voyage has become a classic. Captain Chase's Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex was published in New York in 1821 and has been regarded as a work of great historical and literary value ever since."

British import. This hardcover edition OUT OF PRINT.

$25.00