Description:

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Liverpool, England, April 12, 1855
Nathaniel Hawthorne Boldly Signed Liverpool Consular Doc Dated A Few Years After Publication of "Tanglewood Tales"
PPDS
A pair of documents including a consular document boldly signed by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), who served as U.S. Consul at Liverpool between 1853-1857. The second document is signed by Hawthorne's subordinate, U.S. Vice Consul at Liverpool Samuel Pearce. The documents help paint a vivid picture of the frustrated novelist's life in Liverpool, a city he elsewhere called a "black and miserable hole." Though the Liverpool consulship was considered a plum post second only to London in terms of remuneration and prestige, Hawthorne detested it. Hawthorne had had previous experience working a tedious bureaucratic day job in order to pay the bills, notably while serving as Surveyor for the District of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts in the 1840s. Hawthorne accepted the Liverpool appointment the same year his "Tanglewood Tales For Boys and Girls" was published. Ex-Walter R. Benjamin Autographs (New York, New York), from whom a file folder is included.

The lot includes:

1. A 1p partly printed and partly manuscript document signed by U.S. Consul at Liverpool Nathaniel Hawthorne as "Nathl Hawthorne" at lower right, and possibly also initialed by him as "N.H." on the last line of the ship's crew manifest next to the cross-out and comment "not going." April 12, 1855. Liverpool, England. Secretarially inscribed on watermarked pale blue paper. An embossed U.S. Consular paper seal is affixed at lower left. Expected wear including flattened paper folds and isolated ink smears, else near fine. 8.875" x 14.625."

Hawthorne certified that "the seamen or Mariners hereinafter described have been Shipped at this port, to proceed on a voyage to Venice then one or more ports in the Mediterranean + then the US or England on board of the Barque Bertha of Camden Maine" under John C. Blanchard, Master. The crew list states the names, ages, wages, and heights of thirteen able-bodied seamen.

John C. Blanchard (1811-1887) was a ship master (and later farmer) from central Maine. From the 1840s, he captained American vessels plying the Caribbean, Europe, and the Atlantic seaboard. He came out of retirement in 1855 to command the bark "Bertha" on its voyage to Venice. "Bertha" was a multi-masted sailing ship owned and operated by the Boston-based firm Blanchard & Sherman. For more information about John C. Blanchard, consult the Captain John C. Blanchard Papers (MS-40) found in the collection of the Maine Maritime Museum Library (Bath, Maine.)

2. A 1p partly printed and partly manuscript document signed by U.S. Vice Consul at Liverpool Samuel Pearce as "S Pearce / V. Consul" at bottom. March 15, 1855. Liverpool, England. Document No. 182 confirmed the discharge of six crewmen from the "Bertha." Secretarially inscribed and docketed verso. Flattened folds and a few wrinkles, with an isolated closed tear at top and small hole at the top. Else near fine. 8" x 10."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Provenance: Additional paperwork included with the lot includes photocopies from a 1975 autograph and manuscript collecting catalog showing Hawthorne listings; and photocopies from Nathaniel Hawthorne's account of his time in England, "Passages From the English Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne."
  • Dimensions: largest document measures unfolded: 8.875" x 14.625"
  • Medium: PPDS

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June 26, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
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