Nicholson Whaling Small Manuscript Collections
Dates
- 1766-1921
Creator
- Nicholson, Paul C. (Paul Coe), 1888-1956 (Collector, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to research.
Conditions Governing Use
PPL believes this collection is in the public domain. Users of this item are responsible for determining copyright restrictions.
Biographical / Historical
Whaling voyages generated extensive documentation, from business and personal correspondence to bills and receipts. The items in this collection represent small pieces of information about the whaling voyages during which they were created and the people who created them. In many cases items in this collection were transferred from logbooks, where they had been laid in between pages.
Extent
3.33 Linear Feet (Eight record boxes.)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The current collection combines two subgroups from an initial, larger single collection of Nicholson Whaling Collection manuscripts. Larger individual collections have been processed individually, but this group of materials represents small collections of whaling documents, frequently single items.
The collection is arranged into two main series. The first represents materials which have been identified by vessel and voyage and arranged alphabetically by vessel, then chronologically by individual voyages. The second series contains materials not yet identified by vessel or otherwise standing apart from that structure. The second series is broken further into nine subseries, currently arranged as they were in the original subgroup. Future processing may further revise these subseries:
1. Correspondence
2. Bills and Receipts
3. Seamen's Protection Papers
4. Owners and Agents Records
5. Customs House Records
6. "Miscellany"
7. Bank Checks
8. Legal Documents
9. Prints, Drawings and Paintings
Custodial History
Materials were acquired through the initial donation by Paul C. Nicholson, by individual purchase and donation in succeeding years, and by transfer from logbooks that originally contained them.
Accruals
Additional accruals are expected.
Creator
- Nicholson, Paul C. (Paul Coe), 1888-1956 (Collector, Person)
- Providence Public Library (R.I.). Special Collections (Collector, Organization)
- Title
- Nicholson Whaling Small Manuscript Collections
- Author
- Originally processed by Judith Lund in 2008. Extracted from a larger finding aid and revised by Audrey Buhain and Jordan Goffin in 2025.
- Date
- June 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Providence Public Library Repository
150 Empire Street
Providence RI 02903 United States of America
401-455-8021
special_collections@provlib.org