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All About Monster Whales, Whalers and Whaling! Capt. G. H. NEWTON, late of the Inland Whaling Association…
Springfield, Massachusetts, Press of Springfield Printing Co., [ca. 1883]. Illustrated broadside printed on yellow paper, 41.875” x 14.5”, wood engraving and text within ornamental border, engraving, 2.75” x 7.5”. CONDITION: Good, some small separations and losses along old folds and creases with minimal effect on printing, light damp stains, numerous small tape repairs at verso. An appropriately large and impressive broadside advertising a lecture by “Capt.” George Newton on whales and whaling, including an account of his 1880–82 tour of the U.S. with a putrefying whale carcass. Newton’s lecture was accompanied by magic lantern slides, as indicated by a note stating that “the calcium light brings out the prominent points beautifully.” The subjects covered included the methods of capturing whales and obtaining oil; where the whalebone comes from; the whale’s mammoth proportions, and “scenes and incidents connected with a whaling voyage.” Various objects were presented and explained to the audience, including “a real baleen or whalebone,” sperm whale teeth, a bomb gun, a bomb lance, and a harpoon. Part I, entitled “Whaling Voyage, from New Bedford to the Arctic Ocean,” presented such illustrated scenes as “The Youngster’s first Whaling Experience”; ”Crew Saved from the Burned Ship”; “Destruction of a Boat by a Sperm Whale”; “Taking the Head of Right Whale aboard Ship”; “A Dutch Whaler Frozen in the Ice”; “Either a Sea Serpent or too much grog”; “Dangerous Bathing, Man devoured by Shark,” and more. Part II, entitled “Inland Whaling Voyage, from Provincetown to St. Louis,” consisted of Newton’s account of his tour with the whale carcass and included images of “our Monster preparatory to towing him to Boston”; “Towing the Whale from Provincetown to Boston”; “Special Whale Express of the Inland Whaling Association, as it passes through the country”; and the various cities visited. Born in Monson, Mass., George H. Newton (1831–1895) was a lawyer and insurance agent who, in November 1880, bought an 80,000 lb. right whale carcass in Provincetown for $450, which he variously called the Prince of Whales and the Monster Whale. Towed to Boston by ship, the whale was disemboweled and filled with ice and salt, then transported to Chicago via rail. Arriving in December, it was exhibited by Newton and Fred J. Engelhardt, who formed a partnership known as the “Pioneer Inland Whaling Association.” Newton lectured in Chicago for about a month, then the partners toured the U.S. with the whale via rail. After stops in such places as Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Buffalo, the men camped near Bay County, Michigan in May of 1881 where “they attempted to embalm the deteriorating carcass, and otherwise prepare for another exhibit season” (“Biography”). Around this time the stench of the rotting carcass became a problem. The city of Detroit banned the show after its residents smelled the whale when it was still a considerable distance away. Undeterred, the partners continued their tour, but with diminishing success. The traveling show and the partnership came to an end in Poughkeepsie, New York in September of 1882. Promotional materials claim that over one million people viewed the whale in the first six months. As this broadside reveals, Newton continued lecturing on the “Monarch Supreme of the Ocean” to generate additional income once this “inland whaling voyage” had come to its inevitably malodorous conclusion. No copies recorded in OCLC. We have located just two examples, held at the Mystic Seaport Museum and the New Bedford Whaling Museum. A rare and striking broadside advertising a remarkable illustrated lecture on the leviathan of the deep. REFERENCES: Fields, Alison. “Maritime Encounters in the American Midwest,” Comparative American Studies An International Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1-2 (2024), pp. 40–52; “Biography of George H. Newton” at Mystic Seaport Museum online.
Item #9430
Price: $7,500.00
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