East India Company
Illustrated manuscript notebook of J. Longden, surgeon on East Indiaman Protector, 1837-8
£2,268
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 21 September 2023 at 10:00 BST
Description
4to, contemporary marbled boards, rebacked, 266 pp. (pagination irregular but no leaves apparently excised; many pages left blank), on wove paper watermarked 1833, with numerous full-page sketches in pencil and/or watercolour, including some 10 views of coastlines and ships (of which 3 in watercolour), many captioned with details of subject, coordinates and date ('E. I. Ship Protector, T. Buttenshaw, Commander, outward bound. Thursday April 6th 1837'; 'Island of Trinidada bearing W by S. 1/2 S, sketched April 6th 37 by J. Longden ...'; 'St Antonio one of the Cape Verd Isles ...'; 'The Protector coming to an anchor at Rankafullah Pagoda in the river Hooghly Sept 8th 37'), a pencil sketch of a busy harbour against a mountainous backdrop (possibly Hong Kong), 10 anatomical studies, 5 studies of animals, fruit and plants (including a coloured sketch of flowers from Mauritius, lychees, and a walrus, etc.), and several others including various preparatory or unfinished sketches, the text including a lengthy verse account of the voyage to ('bound to Bengal and China', see p. 266; headed 'The Departure' and 'The Passage Out', written in rhyming couplets), medical notes on diseases including cholera and scurvy, including an account of an emergency on ship ('When in Calcutta ... I had some singular cases one which ran thus: Mr Clark a stout florid healthy man a Scotchman by birth was attacked one day at 1P.M. while in the heat ... with ... rigid spasms'), notes on fellow crew members ('To Captn Buttenshaw I am greatly indebted not only for giving me my berth without a moments hesitation or asking to see even a certificate of qualification but also for his great kindness to me during my illness in Calcutta'; 'Mr Brooks held the double situation of 3rd mate and sailmaker, he was a man who had risen from before the mast and had been nearly all over the world a first rate seaman ... he spoke French and Spanish and a little Italian and Bengali', etc.), poems addressed to family members (variously signed 'off the coast of Sumatra', 'Bay of Bengal', and 'Diamond Harbour, River Ganges'), an extensive section titled 'Chemical Notes from a Course of Study under Professor Everitt', and quotations from classical authors
Footnote
Provenance: Acquired by the vendor from Richard Miles Antiques, Holbein Place, London, 1990 (with copied invoice).