Carlton D. Morse whaling collection (Ms.79.22)

The Carleton D. Morse whaling collection includes all kinds of manuscript materials pertaining to whaling (correspondence, logbooks and accounts, seaman's journals, merchant's and owner's accounts, reports and legal documents, literary works, photographs and engravings, as well as newspaper clippings, research notes, ephemera and other printed materials) collected by Mr. Morse or added to the collection after its arrival at Brown University. The materials currently in the collection date from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th, however the researcher should take note that there are several undated items.

As a manuscript collection, the Carleton D. Morse whaling collection is a subject-oriented collection, consisting of papers relating to whaling and generated by individuals connected with that industry over a period of more than two hundred years, rather than the more usual kind of manuscript collection which consists of papers generated by one individual, family, business or institution over a (usually) finite period of years.

Because of its subject orientation, and because certain items (such as the logbook of the ship Almira (entry II,A,1 of this guide)) have been added to the collection since Mr. Morse's death and since its acquisition by Brown, it seems most advisable to treat the Morse whaling collection as an "open" collection, organized so as to be able to receive any new additions in the future such as new manuscript materials on whaling that Brown acquires.

When originally processed, manuscripts for the Ms. Swift & Allen firm and a number of items then thought to be unrelated were removed from the collection. Later curatorial staff came to regret this arrangement, and recommended that the collection be reintegrated. This finding aid brings together the original Morse Whaling manuscripts (Ms. 79.22), along with related but previously separated materials from Ms. Swift & Allen and Ms. 85.16, A79.35, A79.36, and A79.37 as well as materials found laid into some of the books (processed as Ms. 63.5) and additional ephemera from the collection file.

It should be noted that, after thorough review, the correspondence of Malvina Pinkham and the Pinkham family (Ms. 85.16) and the Marshall Johnson papers (A79.38), although both were received with the Carleton D. Morse whaling collection, have been determined not to have a direct connection to whaling. These remain separate as distinct manuscript collections, with appropriate cross-references to the Whaling collection.

The bulk of the printed materials in the Carleton D. Morse whaling collection--books and pamphlets--have been individually cataloged and shelved as a unit within the John Hay Library. These can be identified through JOSIAH by the location code "Hay Whaling." While not directly related to items found in the Morse Whaling manuscript collection, they should not be overlooked.