The gripping first-hand narrative of the whaling ship disaster that inspired Melville's Moby-Dick and informed Nathaniel Philbrick's monumental history, In the Heart of the Sea
In 1820, the Nantucket whaleship Essex was rammed by an angry sperm whale thousands of miles from home in the South Pacific. The Essex sank, leaving twenty crew members drifting in three small open boats for ninety days. Through drastic measures, eight men survived to reveal this astonishing tale.
The Narrative of the Wreck of the Whaleship Essex, by Owen Chase, has long been the essential account of the Essex's doomed voyage. But in 1980, a new account of the disaster was discovered, penned late in life by Thomas Nickerson, who had been the fifteen-year-old cabin boy of the ship. This discovery has vastly expanded and clarified the history of an event as grandiose in its time as the Titanic.
This edition presents Nickerson's never-before-published chronicle alongside Chase's version. Also included are the most important other contemporary accounts of the incident, Melville's notes in his copy of the Chase narrative, and journal entries by Emerson and Thoreau.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators.
By:
Owen Chase,
Thomas Nickerson
Edited by:
Nathaniel Philbrick,
Thomas Philbrick,
Thomas Philbrick
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 197mm,
Width: 130mm,
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 210g
ISBN: 9780140437966
ISBN 10: 0140437967
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 03 July 2000
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
"The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale - Thomas Nickerson, Owen Chase, and Others Edited and Introduced by Thomas Philbrick and Nathaniel Philbrick Introduction Suggestions for Further Reading THE ESSEX NARRATIVESFirst Reports 1. The Paddack Letter 2. The Macy LetterThe Mate's Story 1. Chase's Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex 2. Herman Melville's Annotation of Chase's NarrativeThe Boy's Story 1. Nickerson's ""Desultory Sketches"" 2. Nickerson's Letter to LewisThe Captain's Story 1. Excerpt from Ridgely's Letterbook 2. Excerpt from Wilke's Autobiography 3. Excerpt from Tyreman and Bennet's JournalThe Boatsteerer's Story 1. An Account of the Loss of the Essex 2. Excerpt from the Journal of the Surry Extracts: Memories and ApocryphaNotes"
