Details
WILLIAM SCORSBY (1798-1857).
Autograph letter signed to his sister [Mary] Clark in Whitby, Liverpool, 4 March 1820, announcing the publication of his book [An Account of the Arctic Regions with a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery], and discussing the cost, the format and distribution.('the price of the book will be, I understand, 2£ or guineas...the large paper copies...will be a guinea or more. The price is higher than I espected or wished, but as the expence of getting it up has been a thousand pounds, nothing less will pay the publishers'), asking his sister to assist in promoting the sale of the work and listing the names of ten potential purchasers of the copies he had ordered to be sent to Whitby, and announcing the imminent first sailing of the Baffin ('Our operations...are in the height of activity...my occupations most numerous...we expect to be ready for sea...by the 10th of this month, or next Friday'), slight loss of text from seal tear and one small hole through both leaves, folds of address panel weak, postmark, endorsement.
Scoresby moved with his family to Liverpool in May 1819 so that he could superintend the construction of the Baffin which was specially fitted for the Greenland trade. The Baffin was launched on 15 February 1820 and set sail on her maiden voyage on 18 March. His book 'the foundation-stone of Arctic science' (DNB) was published in his absence. From his early voyage into the Arctic in 1806, Scoresby comined his whaling activities with much valuable scientific observations. After his retirement as a whaler, Scoresby became a minister of religion. Literature: T. and C. Stamp, William Scoresby, Arctic Scientist (1975).
Autograph letter signed to his sister [Mary] Clark in Whitby, Liverpool, 4 March 1820, announcing the publication of his book [An Account of the Arctic Regions with a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery], and discussing the cost, the format and distribution.('the price of the book will be, I understand, 2£ or guineas...the large paper copies...will be a guinea or more. The price is higher than I espected or wished, but as the expence of getting it up has been a thousand pounds, nothing less will pay the publishers'), asking his sister to assist in promoting the sale of the work and listing the names of ten potential purchasers of the copies he had ordered to be sent to Whitby, and announcing the imminent first sailing of the Baffin ('Our operations...are in the height of activity...my occupations most numerous...we expect to be ready for sea...by the 10th of this month, or next Friday'), slight loss of text from seal tear and one small hole through both leaves, folds of address panel weak, postmark, endorsement.
Scoresby moved with his family to Liverpool in May 1819 so that he could superintend the construction of the Baffin which was specially fitted for the Greenland trade. The Baffin was launched on 15 February 1820 and set sail on her maiden voyage on 18 March. His book 'the foundation-stone of Arctic science' (DNB) was published in his absence. From his early voyage into the Arctic in 1806, Scoresby comined his whaling activities with much valuable scientific observations. After his retirement as a whaler, Scoresby became a minister of religion. Literature: T. and C. Stamp, William Scoresby, Arctic Scientist (1975).