Books

Glory of The Seas

When Glory of the Seas was first published in 1970 it became the first title in the Mystic Seaport’s American Martime Library series. Out of print for some years, this important book is now back in a second edition published by the Glencannon Press. Donald Mckay’s last great clipper ship Glory was launched in 1869 and spent the next 40 years making record runs from New York to San Francisco and from California to Australia, among other voyages and adventures. In her final decade she hauled coal on the Pacific Coast and served for a time as a floating fish cannery before being burned for her metal. Michael Jay Mjelde tells her story with grace and detail, and gives special emphasis to her people, from fo’c’sle hands to hard-driving Masters.

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Clipper Ship Captain: Daniel McLaughlin and the Glory of the Seas

Glory of the Seas was the last clipper built by legendary shipbuilder Donald McKay. This is a delightful look at ships in the Cape Horn trade in the 19th century and at the life of a master of a crack clipper ship in the last days of the Age of Sail.

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From Whaler to Clipper Ship

Forward by James P. Delgado.

Captain Henry Gillespie (1857–1937), of Portland, Maine, went to sea as a young man of 17, serving as “able-bodied seaman” on a New Bedford whaler. Over the next 47 years he would advance to deck officer, then master of sailing and steam ships. He was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy during World War I, commanding vessels operating in the war zone. Following the war, he returned to merchant marine service until his retirement in 1921.

Maritime historian Michael Jay Mjelde has chronicled the colorful life and career of this “down-east” man of the sea, mining available first-person accounts, interviews with family members, government records, and maritime archives on both coasts. The result is a narrative in clear, highly engaging prose that puts readers on the tilting decks and noisy wharfs frequented by Gillespie. Through Mjelde’s retelling of a remarkable life, the age of clipper ships, the Cape Horn trade, and oceangoing steamers comes into vivid relief, affording a richly embossed assessment of Captain Gillespie’s life and times.
From Whaler to Clipper Ship adds a layer of full-bodied context to our understanding of this pivotal era in American maritime history. The wealth of detail will appeal to scholars, students, and maritime history enthusiasts.

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