Book
Oil, ice and bone : arctic whaler Nathaniel Ransom / Helen Hiller Frink.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781931807968
- ISBN: 1931807965
- Physical Description: ix, 179 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 26 cm
- Publisher: Portsmouth, NH : Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2015.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Maps on lining papers. |
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 174-178). |
| Formatted Contents Note: | A man at fourteen: Seaman on the Barnstable, May 22, 1860 - April 28, 1864 -- "Who wouldn't sell a farm to go whaling?": Harpooner on the Sea Breeze, October 18, 1865 - November 31, 1868 -- "The three or four years lot of trash": Aboard the Navy, December 1, 1868 - June 12, 1869 -- "May God have mercy on this whaling fleet and deliver us from these cold and icy shores", Third mate of the John Wells, November 9, 1869 - September 14, 1871 -- "Amoung the wrecks": Third mate of the Illinois, March 18 - November 13, 1875 -- Epilogue: Home from the sea. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Ransom, Nathaniel C. Whalers (Persons) > United States > Biography. Whaling > Arctic regions > History. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Town of Orford Libraries.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 1 total copy.
Holds
1 current hold with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orford Social Library | 639.2/8092 | 34190000115559 | New items | Available | - |
Summary
Oil, Ice and Bone
In 1860 fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Ransom followed his five older brothers into the dank foc'sle of a whaling vessel. For fifteen years he hunted seventy-ton bowheads in Arctic waters, for the many uses of "bone," blades of flexible baleen from the leviathan's enormous jaw, raised its value, even as petroleum replaced whale oil as a source of lighting. In 1871 Ransom survived the loss of thirty-two whaling vessels in the frigid waters off Alaska's Icy Cape. With him he carried a journal - and kept it, as he and his shipmates jettisoned weapons and warm clothing to save their very lives. His eyewitness account of whaling's brutal slaughter and sudden losses is enriched by the author's affection for an ancestor she discovered through his journals a century after his death.
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