Beschreibung:

Chimmo (William, 1828-1891). A manuscript journal in 2 volumes, 1841-48, covering the early years of Chimmo's naval career from starting as a midshipman aged about 13 written in a clear small hand in italic script on both sides of approximately 450 leaves, occasional pen and ink vignette illustrations, some old damp-staining and fraying with corner loss of leaves affecting text at start of both volumes, some damp browning and discoloration but sufficient ink held to retain legibility throughout, some further leaves detached and slightly frayed, first volume partly broken and entirely disbound, second volume contemporary half roan, worn, matching small 4to (15 x 15cm) (Qty: 2) Provenance: From the family of William Chimmo, by descent. William Chimmo entered the Royal navy as a midshipman during the first Chinese war and enjoyed a long and active career before retiring in 1873 with the rank of Captain. He travelled on surveying missions in the Pacific, the Fiji Islands, Australia, the northwest coast of Scotland, the west coast of America, the line from Ceylon to Java, and while serving as midshipman his ship, HMS Herald, was charged with searching for Sir John Franklin and his lost men. The first volume here offered covers Chimmo’s time from joining the navy and joining HMS Cornwallis, a 74-gun third rate ship of line, on 5 June 1841, setting sail for the China Seas a month later, actions off Canton in the fleet commanded by Sir William Parker in the First Anglo-Chinese War (1839-42), (known popularly as the First Opium War), and the eventual return to England in November 1844. Chimmo’s journal is written up in a fair hand, and presumably shortly afterwards, (the paper is watermarked 1839). He gives a vivid account of life on board ship, giving details of weather and sailing conditions, as well as the officers and crew and day-to-day life and dramas, from celebrations and drunkenness to floggings and shark catching, sinking of piratical junks, meetings with other ships and sailing vessels, plus trips on shore, copies of despatches and other documents. He is careful to note the deaths of officers and their causes, and he gives good detail about the conflicts, including the Battles of Chapoo, Woosung and Chinkiang. Chimmo also notes the historic signing of the Treaty of Nanking aboard his ship Cornwallis on 29 August 1842. The second volume begins with Chimmo back home in England in December 1844 before joining HMS Herald at Sheerness. HMS Herald was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate corvette that had also been involved in the actions off Canton in 1841-42. She was then paid off at Chatham and converted to a survey ship. Henry Kellett recommissioned Herald for surveying in the Pacific and together with HMS Pandora she conducted a survey off the coast of British Columbia after the Oregon boundary dispute with the United States. Chimmo’s account begins with setting sail from Sheerness on 26 May 1845, and then proceeding to, among many other places, Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, Galapagos, Panama, San Francisco, Acapulco, etc. Chimmo begins by calling this 'Volumes 2 & 3', and yet this second volume ends in Panama on 7 May 1848, suggesting a missing third volume. On 9 May 1848 the Herald departed Panama and travelled through the Bering Strait on towards the Arctic as part of an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin making three consecutive voyages to the north. Chimmo published his account of these trips to the Arctic in Euryalus; Tales of the Sea, a Few Leaves from the Diary of a Midshipman (J.D. Potter, 1860).