Stove by a Whale : Owen Chase and the Essex

Owen Chase -- Narrative of the most extraordinary and distressing shipwreck of the whale-ship Essex of Nantucket / by Owen Chase -- Ne cede malis -- Next lowering -- Telling the story.;Appendices -- Herman Melville's annotations and markings in his own copy of Owen Chase's narrative -- The story of the Essex shipwreck presented in Captain Pollard's interview with George Bennet -- Thomas Chapple's account of the loss of Essex -- March 7, 1821, letter of Commodore Ridgely to the secretary of the navy -- The Paddack letter on the rescue of Captain Pollard and Charles Ramsdell -- Report of the Essex shipwreck and rescue in the Syndney Gazette, June 9, 1821 -- Table of islands from Bowditch's Navigator -- Chase geneology. The “exciting tale” of the first documented sinking of a ship by a whale—and the survivor’s narrative that inspired Moby-Dick ( Choice ). “On November 20, 1820, a great whale rammed the Nantucket whaler Essex , two thousand miles west of Ecuador. Owen Chase, her first mate, and twenty-nine other men took to the boats; eight eventually survived. Herman Melville’s debt to Chase’s Narrative has been known since Moby-Dick appeared, but little has been known about Chase and the survival of the crew . . . “Heffernan’s study belongs on the shelf of every Melville scholar and anyone interested in an exciting tale.” — Choice “Moving . . . [Hefferman] has brought together new information about the Essex and her crew, the rescue of her survivors, and subsequent accounts of their ordeal that goes far beyond any single study previously in print.” — Resources for American Literary Study “The astonishing list of books, logs, manuscripts, court records, ships’ registers, and museum records attest to the diligent weeks, months, and even years that have finally resulted in a volume that entrances the reader with yarns of the sea. All the drama is still there, intact.” — Ocean Includes illustrations. Owen Chase -- Narrative of the most extraordinary and distressing shipwreck of the whale-ship Essex of Nantucket / by Owen Chase -- Ne cede malis -- Next lowering -- Telling the story. Appendices -- Herman Melville's annotations and markings in his own copy of Owen Chase's narrative -- The story of the Essex shipwreck presented in Captain Pollard's interview with George Bennet -- Thomas Chapple's account of the loss of Essex -- March 7, 1821, letter of Commodore Ridgely to the secretary of the navy -- The Paddack letter on the rescue of Captain Pollard and Charles Ramsdell -- Report of the Essex shipwreck and rescue in the Syndney Gazette, June 9, 1821 -- Table of islands from Bowditch's Navigator -- Chase geneology. A thrilling documentation of the first sinking of a ship by a whale. The first documented sinking of a ship by a whale and a harrowing account by the ship's first mate of the survivors' three months adrift in small boats. A thrilling narrative that inspired Herman Melville's masterpiece Moby Dick. A documentation of the first sinking of a ship by a whale. This book contains a harrowing account by the ship's first mate of the survivors' three months adrift in small boats. A thrilling narrative that directly inspired Herman Melville's masterpiece Moby Dick

A thrilling documentation of the first sinking of a ship by a whale.

Chase's Narrative is a good catch for its own sake.