William H. Meyers diary

Collection Data

Description
William H. Meyers (b. 1815), a native of Philadelphia, sailed on merchant vessels, worked at the U.S. Naval Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and served as a gunner in the U.S. Navy. Meyers' illustrated diary (17 Oct. 1838-4 Mar. 1839) records his voyages from: Philadelphia to Baltimore and Cuba (with visits to Xibara and Santiago de Cuba) on the schooner Ajax; Santiago de Cuba to Nassau, Bahamas, as master of the brig Lucy; and Nassau to New York as a passenger on the brig Victress, noting his later return to Philadelphia. The diary, which functions as a ship's log for the Lucy, includes accounts of his visit to a Cuban plantation and his illness from yellow fever, and poetic tributes to women encountered in his travels. Watercolor drawings (one in ink wash) illustrate ships at sea, localities visited, entertainments, shipboard activities and illness at sea.
Names
Meyers, William H., b. 1815 (Creator)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1838 - 1839
Library locations
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Shelf locator: MssCol 1986
Topics
Meyers, William H., b. 1815
Ajax (Schooner)
Cuba -- Description and travel -- 19th century
Nassau (Bahamas) -- Description and travel -- 19th century
Baltimore (Md.) -- Description and travel -- 19th century
Yellow fever
Genres
Diaries
Drawings
Paintings
Physical Description
Extent: 1 v. (36 tipped-in leaves) : 32 ill. (watercolor drawings) ; 36 cm.
Watercolors
Type of Resource
Text
Still image
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b16044202
MSS Unit ID: 1986
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): a8de0270-c6cc-012f-4b78-3c075448cc4b
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