Andrew W. German – författare

At the age of nineteen, Robert F. Weir of West Point, New York, ran away to sea, where he spent the next ten years. Assuming the pseudonym Robert Wallace, Weir sailed aboard the bark Clara Bell out of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, in 1855 for a voyage to the whaling grounds of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Upon the death of the boatsteerer, Weir was promoted to his position. Recording daily events aboard ship over the course of nearly three years, 1855–1858, Weir’s journal vividly relates the whaleman’s life, both in prose and in detailed hand-drawn illustrations.This is a timeless account of life on a nineteenth-century whaler, from the misery of seasickness and the rigors of sea voyages; to the thrill and violence of whale hunts; to the sights, sounds, and foods of foreign cultures. The Weir log is a staff favorite at Mystic Seaport and frequently on display in the Museum for its compelling story, beautiful illustrations, and immaculate penmanship.

As America’s oldest merchant ship still afloat and the only wooden survivor of the once-vital whaling industry, the Charles W. Morgan has a complex story to tell.Elaborating on Mystic Seaport Museum’s earlier volumes on the Charles W. Morgan's history, this new book offers an expanded account, chronicling the ship'sconstruction and launch in 1841 through its 38th Voyage in 2014—the first time the Morgan had been sailed in more than ninety years—and its continuing role today as an historic icon and the museum’s flagship vessel. Chapters paint a picture of how whaling developed in Europe and the ways New England colonists adopted it as a profitable venture, and then, through the ship’s own story, proceed to sketch the evolution of America’s relationship with nature—and the whale, specifically—and with the many peoples of the world who were encountered by, or served aboard, a whaleship.This is the story of a National Historic Landmark—one that reflects our changing relationship with the natural world and with the diverse populations of the globe through two centuries of American history.