-He went whaling prepared as no man had been before him, and he went with an eager and an open mind. He describes as no other author has done the multifarious duties of the cooper, the whalecraftsman, the rigger, the subtleties of boat gear and of stowage, the homely whims and prejudices of the most conservative and practical of men ... he has returned unsoured from his voyaging, and now lays his booty before us.- -- Robert Cushman Murphy, in the Introduction
Since the days of Moby Dick, whaling has been the subject of countless books, articles and works of art. Few books on the...