American Neptune collection
The American Neptune
The American Neptune, title page, Vol. 1, January 1941.
Collection: the collection is complete (Stormy Weather fonds).
Indexing: by article title and author. Fifty-year index available in our library for consultation.
The American Neptune is a quarterly Journal of maritime history and arts published by the Peabody Essex Museum. Since 1941, when Samuel Eliot Morison and Walter Muir Whitehill were among its founders, The American Neptune has been one of America's premier maritime journals. The journal's articles, written with clarity and scholarly substance, are of interest to all who enjoy accounts of ships, the seas, and those who've sailed them - for mercantile gain, defending their nation's interest, or the love of voyaging and exploration. They cover a wide range of subject matter (objects, people, events), geographical areas (international as well as American) and eras (millenia ago through today) and are for scholars, professionals and enthusiasts.
The American Neptune was published from 1941 to 1992 by the Peabody Museum of Salem, joined by the Essex Museums in 1992, and from 1993 to 2002 by their successor organization, the Peabody Essex Museum. The last issue was Volume 62, number 1 (Winter 2002).
The first co-editors were M.V. Brewington, Lincoln Colcord, Howard I. Chapelle and Walter Muir Whitehill. The last Editor-in-Chief was Barry Gough, whose name however did not appear in the masthead of the very last issue.
Some articles (in chronological order) :
Vol. VII (1947) - A naval ballad from the War of 1812.
Vol. VIII (1948) - The Designs of Our First Frigates, by M. V. Brewington.
Vol. XV (1955) - The unlucky General Armstrong.
Vol. XVI (1956) - American steam navigation in China 1845-1878, Part I.
Vol. XVI (1956) - American steam navigation in China 1845-1878, Part II (inc. plates).
Vol XVII (1957) - Early Great Lakes Steamboats: detailed, includes the Vandalia and van Cleve's recollections
Vol. XVIII (1958) - American steam navigation in China 1845-1878, Part VII.
Vol. XX (1960) - William Mountaine, F.R.S., mathematician.
Vol. XXI (1961) - The privateer Yankee in the War of 1812.
Vol. XXII (1962) - Early Steam navigation in China: Hong Kong and the Canton River.
Vol. XXVII (1967) - A British view of the Union Navy, 1864.
Vol. XXVIII (1968) - Eastport : a maritime history.
Vol. XXIX (1969) - Intelligence reports of British agents in the Long Island Sound area, 1814-1815.
Vol. XXXVI (1976) - American Privateering in America's War for Independence, 1775-1783. [OCR]
Vol. XXXVI (1976) - American Privateering in America's War for Independence, 1775-1783. [image]
Vol. IL (1989) - Through the "Golden Mist": a brief overview of Armada historiography.
Vol. L (1990) - Armed merchantmen and privateers: another perspective on America's quasi-war with France.
Vol. LII (1992) - The Lasting Injury: The Revenue Marine’s First Steam Cutters.
Vol. LIV (1994) - Commerce raiding and crisis: Guadeloupe 1799-1802.
Vol. LVIII (1998) - US revenue cutters captured in the War of 1812.
Vol. LVIII (1998) - The killing of Shabet: a narrative of extraterritorial rights, Zanzibar, 1846-1851.
Vol. LX (2000) - New dimensions in Canadian naval history.
Vol. LXII (2002) - "This country now occupies the vantage ground" [monitors in the Union War].