Stampless Letters from Captain to Famed Ship Builder Thatcher Magoun [1834]

Stampless letters written to Thatcher Magoun of Medford, MA by Captain Daniel L. Winsor while aboard a ship sailing in the Baltic Sea that are dated August 14th and 17th, 1834. Letters are both written on a single sheet measuring approximately 15 ½ x 9 ¾ inches, which is then folded in half. Writing on recto and verso in condensed script that is somewhat difficult to parse, which is not aided by the ink bleeding through the paper. Chipping and tearing along edges. Only the largest tear disrupts the content, measuring about one inch wide and cutting about an inch into the sheet and obscuring a couple words. There are some large spots of foxing that do not impact content. Thatcher Magoun established the first shipyard in Medford, MA and earned a reputation that maritime historian Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison called, "second to none among American shipbuilders." Daniel L. Winsor served as captain of the ship Timoleon as part of Magoun's mercantile firm. In the first of the two letters included on the sheet, Winsor reports on the ship's arrival to St. Petersburg, Russia. He refers to "the miserable state of business there and elsewhere" and discusses the ship's cargo of flax and sugar. The second letter was penned when the ship was 10 miles from Elsinore, Denmark three days later. Winsor references the multitude of other ships in the vicinity and describes the many troubles the crew encountered on their journey. "I almost dread to go on shore at Elsinore," he writes. This intriguing pair of letters offers insight into the operations of a highly successful mercantile firm.…