Sale No: 107
Lot No: 2418
Symbol: ![]() Cat No: Collection
|
Captain Melville B. Cook: A Collection from his Civil War Service, Sailing Career and Beyond 1861-65, 1869-1900. This collection of diaries, letters, documents, books, photographs, and artifacts reveals the life of a gifted writer and adventurer from a pivotal time in the history of our nation: one of deep division, heroic bravery, poetic romance, raw adventure, and dedication to country and the preservation of community. Melville Bradford Cook, a descendent of Governor William Bradford, was born 30 November 1838 in Friendship, Maine, and educated at Bucksport Seminary. He taught briefly in town schools at age 16, but by the next year, the love of the sea drew him to begin a sailing career on his father's schooner, a career he would later pursue in earnest after the Civil War.
The first from his hometown to enlist, he joined the U.S. Army on 26 September 1861, and was mustered out 1 August 1865. Assigned to Company B of the First Maine Cavalry Cook participated in 35 of the 44 engagements, his service leadership earning him an advancement to first sergeant. He was wounded three times, and during one period of recovery, was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he served 2 weeks on Lincoln's mounted escort from the "White House to the Soldier's Home, located then on Seventh Street", described in a letter to the Boston Herald in 1919. Being a prolific writer bound to detail, Cook's four diaries (dating 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1865) and voluminous letters to his dear "Annie" take the reader beyond the harsh details of war to include the small events which make up our lives and filled the moments of a dedicated soldier.
The collection pertaining to the Civil War includes:
Leather bound diaries of 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1865, each containing over 300 entries, including detailed
descriptions of engagements, a soldier's daily life, and statistical information
More than fifty letters to his sweetheart, Annie, most of which are in the original, stamped envelopes
A 319-page typewritten document of Cook's diary entries and letters, compiled by his great granddaughter,
Barbara N. Turner, For the Love of Annie.
First Edition Civil War books including: Maine at Gettysburg (1898), First Maine Cavalry by Tobie (1887), First Maine Cavalry Campaign 2 (1883-1892), First Maine Cavalry Campaign 3 (1893)
Documents: Re-enlistment and discharge papers (two), Advancement documents and letters of recommendation (eight), Official Assignment to recruit colored troops (five), Official transportation documents (two), Letter to Boston Globe concerning Lincoln's mounted escort, Cook's description of a heroic cavalry charge, Request for Medal of Honor and official reply, Pension documents (two)
Cook returned to sailing after the war, captaining several vessels which would take him around the world from
the fall of 1865 to 1890. After extensive experience in the coastal trades along the eastern coast, South America, Mexico, the Canary lslands, and Spain, Cook began trading in case oil, which took him to Japan, Liverpool, and San Francisco. Cook's wife, Annie, and their daughter Grace accompanied him on a couple of his voyages, most notably, one to Yokohama and Kobe. After leaving the sea, Cook did not retire from productivity. He wrote a small book on Japan entitled Japan: A Sailors Visit to the lsland Empire and transcribed the early records of Meguncook Plantation and Friendship, Maine. He was appointed the local postmaster, county treasurer, county commissioner, and Justice of the Peace over a period of years.
Material from his sailing career and beyond, and a collection of artifacts from Japan includes:
1878 diary of Annie Cook aboard ship, containing 48 pages of detailed entries
1879 diary of Annie Cook aboard ship, containing 57 pages of detailed entries
Japanese newspapers from 1885 - 1888 (eight)
Newspapers from Great Britain, including illustrated political follies, 1884 - 1885 (thirteen)
lllustrated guidebook to Kiyoto, published 1873 "The Guide to The Celebrated Places in Kiyoto & the Surrounding
Places" by K. Yamamoto (43 pages)
Decorative Map of Fuji
Lithographs depicting scenes in Yokohama (three - 14x11")
Lithograph of Japanese family entitled "George Washington's family" (6X4")
Various Japanese artifacts, including small inlaid chess set, bamboo tea stirrer, Shibayama card holder,
decorated leather stamp book, and wooden restaurant table number
18X11 oil painting of two ships in harbor by Annie Cook, and 6X4 oil painting of a water lily by Grace Cook
Three tin type photographs: one of a young Melville Cook, one of Cook and daughter, Grace, and one of Grace
Booklet: "Meiii Japan. A Sailor's Visit" by the Maine Maritime Museum (1996)
Records of Meduncook Plantation and Friendship. Maine. 1762 - 1899. transcribed and edited by Melville B. Cook
Documents of appointments to public offices post Cook's sailing career (seven)
Cook's copyright for Japan: A Sailor's Visit to the lsland Nation, 1890
Copy of Japan: A Sailor's Visit to the lsland Nation. 1890, reprinted by John B. Alden.
Estimate; $10,000 - 15,000. US$10,000-15,000 (Image)
Est. $10,000-15,000
|
Opening US$ 19,000.00
Sold...US$ 19,000.00
Closed..Dec-08-2022, 19:21:55 EST
Sold For 19000
|
