Shipping Account Book, William Rotch Jr. & Son, New Bedford, 1808-1815.

Description:

Shipping Account Book, William Rotch Jr. & Son, New Bedford, 1808-1815. Folio format ledger, entries added at both front and back, consisting of 132 numbered pages of outward cargo invoices (1808-1818),and forty-six unnumbered pages of inward cargo invoices (1809-1815),from the whaling Rotch family of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the firm under the direction of William Rotch Jr. (1759-1850); the center 150 or so pages left blank; transactions recorded include inward shipments of sugar, coffee, rice, iron, cotton, hemp, sailcloth, tobacco, wood, hides, and other goods; outward invoices record the shipping of whale oil and spermaceti candles, other cargo mentioned includes, rope, tobacco, iron, rice, cotton, hides, and other goods; contents generally good, bound in full reversed sheep, boards becoming detached, corners worn, 13 x 7 3/4 in.
"Between c. 1760-1900, members of the Rotch family of Nantucket and New Bedford, Mass., played a vital role in the development of their communities as centers of the whaling industry. The family's close association with New Bedford began in 1787 with the emigration of William Rotch Jr. from Nantucket, where he had been trained in the counting house of William Rotch Sr. & Sons. Young Rotch established his own business which, in turn, launched the careers of three of his sons, William Rodman, Joseph, and Thomas, as merchants involved in different aspects of the whaling industry. Business ventures directed or financially supported by the Rotches between 1787-1896 included William Rotch Jr. & Sons, William R. Rotch & Company, Rotch Wharf Company, Rotch Candle House, and New Bedford Cordage Company. Members of the family also held a vital interest in numerous local banks and textile mills." (from the New Bedford Whaling Museum's finding aid for the Rotch papers: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/library/finding-aids/mss2)
Estimate $400-600


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