Prized Logbook Now Online

In 1855 Robert Weir shipped aboard the whale ship Clara Bell. Apprehensive about the coming voyage Wier opened his journal with the hope that he'd "soon get used to it. Hurrah for hard times. At least I'd like to make myself feel so, but I scarcely dare look ahead it seems rather dark. Have great anticipation of future independence. I shall never never call on father again."

Weir's journal is both an engrossing tale of a  young man's coming of age and also one of the most visually illustrative accounts of the whaling process. The journal contains over 30 illustrations of shipboard life. Log 164 is now online.

Comer photos included in Inuit History Site

The Department of Education for the Government of Nunavut, Canada, has created a new online website “Inuit Contact and Colonization – TARURNGAQTAQ,” for use by social studies teachers, which includes a group of twenty one Mystic Seaport Comer Collection images to illustrate several sections.

For Inuit takurngaqtaq literally means encountering something for the first time.  This site is an exploration of takurngaqtaq between Inuit and First Nations, Whalers, Explorers and Traders. This journey is guided and supported by the knowledge and experiences of Inuit Elders and the exploration of history. A Historical Exploration toolkit provides context and supports for the research process as well as instructional modules for use by educators.”

Shirley Tagalik advised that if you select the Whaler section and then click on the whaler's trunk, a number of items pop out of the trunk. (The same happens if you select the Inuit pack.) When you click on an item, such as tools, a number of related artifact assets appear along the bottom of the page. You can click on each item for more information related to the item. The photo collection appears as photo assets.

Sponsor a Log!!!

Patrons of the G.W. Blunt White Library now have the ability to aid in the preservation of manuscript items and the dissemination of the information within by sponsoring the digitization of individual logbooks and papers.

Digitizing manuscript material provides for global access (visitors to our site come from over 128 different countries), aids in preservation by reducing wear and tear on the original, and creates an archival copy for later generations to access.

More information and sponsorship level information.

Two New Collection Derivatives

Art in Motion, in association with Mystic Seaport has released two new posters: "Chart the Course" and "Chart the Way".

Using images from the Chart and Map Collection as a background for Rosenfeld photos of Hustler and Columbia these new posters highlight two of our significant collections.

(And they can be purchased too! Proceeds support Mystic Seaport.)

"We have to work like horses and live like pigs"

I posted a few months ago on Mystic Seaport's whaleboat that is in the National Museum of American History’s exhibit.What I didn't realize at the time was that it is a quote from Robert Weir's journal kept on board the whale ship Clara Bell that appears on the wall above the whaleboat and that curators choose to exemplify the feelings of 19^th century mariners. "We have to work like horses and live like pigs" is only one of the many insightful lines written by Weir in Mystic Seaport's Log 164. Illustrations from the Clara Bell log have appeared in numerous publications including the novel: "Whale Hunt: The Narrative of a Voyage by Nelson Cole Haley, Harpooner in the Ship Charles W. Morgan." “American Heritage” also featured an article on Weir that is now available online. … Many and many a weary league am I now from those I love—and O what a life for me to lead, among an ungodly set of men

Book, Manuscript and Periodical Catalog Update

Featuring updated search and display features as well as the ability for Mystic Seaport Staff and students to create accounts and maintain lists and email search results right to your own computer, the 'new' catalog is now live.

Check it out at:

http://voyager.mysticseaport.org/vwebv/searchBasic

Thanks for the smoothly orchestrated update go to Mindy Matheson the Collections System Administrator and IT Director, Michael Lehnertz.

You can also email or post search results to your fellow researchers. For instance - see what the Library holds on the Charles W. Morgan.

New -- Collections and Research Image Archive

Mystic Seaports' collection of art, objects, photographs, and ships plans number in the millions and while it is an ambitious undertaking staff at the CRC are continually working to serve our visitors by putting more and more of these vast resources online. To date approximately 10,000 images have been shot and scanned. That isn't all the collection but it is enough to keep many researchers, staff, folks with general interest in various maritime maters, or just the plain curious, plenty busy.

Search the Image Archive at: http://library.mysticseaport.org/ere/oindex.cfm. Results can be viewed in either List or Gallery views.

Or browse some selected ‘collections’

By Category: Instruments Scrimshaw Oil Paintings

By Topic: Canals Tugboats Bicycles

Please note - this resource is under continuing development (for instance you will see a few broken image links) but the visitors who have seen it appreciated it so much we felt it was time to make the announcement. Please send along your comments and suggestions to myself, kelly.drake@mysticseaport.org or any other members of the CRC staff. We’ll be working toward incorporating user input and adding more and more images to the archive.

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  Also - don’t forget our Digital Library collection of books, registers and manuscripts. Online at: http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/MsList.cfm