Serendipity

I always wondered why the late Peter Howard named his business “Serendipity.” He was an excellent bookman, in many ways a leader of his generation of bookpeople. I found him astute, focused, tireless, and deeply knowledgeable – about as far from Serendipitious as I could imagine. After a while I simply assumed he was talking about one of the aspects of the trade in general, rather than his personal approach. Serendipity is inherent in our business.

Last fall I undertook a large Fair Market Value appraisal for a family that was donating its papers to a major institution. The family had been shipowners and merchants in Salem, Massachusetts for generations and their papers were a rich trove of personal and commercial information spanning the great days of Salem commerce in the 19th century. One of the important mariner-family members was a sea captain named Charles H. Allen, who lived from 1810 to 1899, and commanded several famous Salem trading ships to Europe and the far east. It was a fascinating project for me, and in the end my employers were delighted with the job I’d done. Case closed. I thought…

Then, this past weekend I got a call from a lady who wanted to show me a book. It had been in her husband’s family and, when they were vacationing in San Francisco, they showed pictures of it to an antiques dealer out there who said it wasn’t his specialty and recommended they consult a fellow on Cape Cod who was quite knowledgeable about such things. When they got back home they contacted the dealer  and he suggested they talk to me. Years passed and, to make a long story somewhat shorter, they finally got around to bringing me the book.

It was the third edition of John King’s “The China Pilot,” 1861 – a scarce and desirable China Trade navigator. What made it even better was that it turned out to have belonged to Captain Charles H. Allen, the very fellow whose family papers I’d recently appraised. Better yet, material contained in Allen’s copy of the book added significantly to our knowledge of that chapter of Salem’s history.

Here’s my writeup:

King, John W. The China Pilot. London: Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, 1861. 23.5 cm. ix, (1) 459 pp.

Third edition of the major source of navigational information of far east waters. “Comprising the coasts of China, Korea, and Tartary; the Sea of Japan, Gulfs of Tartary and Amur and the Sea of Okhotsk; and the Babuyan, Bashi, Formosa, Meiaco-Sima, Lu-Chu, Ladrones, Bonin, Japan, Saghalin, and Kuril Islands.” With short lexicons of Chinese and Japanese words “of frequent occurrence in charts and sailing directions.” Navigational routes and hazards are described in detail, with information on soundings, currents, prevailing weather in different seasons, and other factors of importance to navigators. Aside from directions, a good bit of history is presented, as King cites past examples of vessels and their difficulties in various harbors and channels. This is an early edition, and scarce in the trade. Presumably bound as issued in textured yellow cloth with gold title on cover and backstrip. The book has been covered in a handmade canvas jacket, secured by stitching through the outer edges of front and back covers. This protective covering has not been disturbed.

This copy of “The China Pilot” was the property of Salem Mass. mariner Captain Charles H. Allen. The front blank, which is detached but present, bears his signature.

On the verso of this leaf is a series of pencil recognition views, executed by Allen, headed “Sooloo from Yokohama for Manila / Aug 29th 1848.”

The title page is also signed in pencil by Allen. The text is clean and mostly unmarked, but a note by Allen on pp. 330-331 pertaining to a hazard warning for “Portsmouth Breakers” reads, “Dont Exist. I passed over this spot in the Sooloo.”

Allen’s entries provide previously unknown information about the fourth voyage of the first Salem merchant ship named “Sooloo.” Extant information about this particular voyage is confusing and contradictory. Putnam I, p. 135 states that “Sooloo” was reported “sailing from Gibraltar, March 10, 1847, from Trieste for Sumatra, under command of Captain Nathaniel Brown.” There is also a well-known port painting of “Sooloo” illustrated in Brewington’s “Marine Paintings and Drawings in the Peabody Museum” pp. 124 and 128, which is supposed to have been done in Genoa in July, 1848. Allen’s descendant and family genealogist writes of Charles H. Allen, “he was master of the ship St. Paul from 1844-1851.” Allen’s entries call such information into question, making this copy of King’s “China Pilot” a significant historical document as well as a scarce contemporary China Trade text.

Serendipity!