The Colcord children spent most of their youth on their father's ships, and the family's detailed letters, logbooks, and photographs give us a splendid window into the life of a seafaring family.

Landlubbers use a remarkable number of terms and expressions that originated at sea. This readable dictionary of maritime vernacular explains the meanings behind "catspaw," "kick the bucket," "palaver," "three sheets in the wind," and other curious lingo. It's a great gift for any sailor or lover of language. "Entertaining and informative." — The Washington Post.

From the first explorers, to the century of ships, to our modern fisheries and diversification, Maine's maritime story is told in engaging detail. Lincoln Paine has laid down the framework for an understanding of Maine's maritime history by relating the population and landscape of today to their historic foundations. This engaging overview of Maine’s maritime history ranges from early Native American travel and fishing to pre-Plymouth European settlements, wars, international trade, shipbuilding, boom-and-bust fisheries, immigrant quarrymen, quick-lime production, yachting, and modern port facilities, all unfolding against one of the most dramatic seascapes on the planet. Down East can be read in an evening but will be referred to again and again. When the first edition was published in 2000, Walter Cronkite—a veteran Maine coastal sailor as well as The Most Trusted Man in America—wrote that “Paine’s economy of phrase and clarity of purpose make this book a delight.” Paine went on to write his monumental opus The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World (PW starred review), but now returns to his first and most abiding love, the coast of Maine, to revise and update this gem of a book. The new edition is printed in a large, full-color format with a stunning complement of historical photos, paintings, charts, and illustrations, making this a truly visual journey along a storied coast.

Children are fascinated with sailing ships, lighthouses, whaling, shipwrecks, and mutinies, and these 50-plus activities will provide them with a boatful of fun. This activity guide shows kids what life was like for the greenhands, old salts, and captains on the high seas during the great age of sail in the 19th century: aboard square-riggers, clippers, whalers, schooners, and packet ships. Life aboard ship was an exciting subculture of American life with its own language, food, music, art, and social structure. Children will learn that many captains brought their wives and children aboard ship, and that kids who learned how to walk at sea often found it difficult to walk on dry land. The book begins with the China Tea trade in the late 18th century and ends with the last whaler leaving New Bedford in 1924. Kids will create scrimshaw using black ink and a bar of white soap; make a model lighthouse using a bike reflector, an oatmeal box, and a plastic soda bottle; and paint china with traditional designs using a blue paint pen and a basic white plate. Included are additional simple activities requiring common household objects that are sure to please busy parents and teachers alike.

Maine has always played a rich and varied role in the art of photography. For hundreds of years, photographers, like other artists, have made their way to Maine to capture the natural beauty and human culture of the state. So, too, have many photographers come from Maine, and many contributions by Mainers have been made to the medium. Maine in Photography is the first comprehensive overview of the history of photography in the state. Providing basic knowledge of the most important people and institutions to have promoted photography, this volume also studies the ways in which photography has informed the understanding of the social and cultural history of Maine. Beginning with the earliest daguerreotype portraits of the 1840s, this history traces the growth of the medium—emphasizing key contributions, such as the Stanley brothers’ invention of the dry plate process—through to the present. Key topics addressed throughout the book include the importance of photography in documenting labor and economic life, the close relationship between photography and the growth of tourism, and the role of Maine photographers in advancing the medium as a fine art form. Published in conjunction with the Maine Photo Project, this is a unique and timely addition to the body of work on the importance of Maine to American art.

Captain Henry Gillespie (1857–1937), of Portland, Maine, went to sea as a young man of 17, serving as “able-bodied seaman” on a New Bedford whaler. Over the next 47 years he would advance to deck officer, then master of sailing and steam ships. He was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy during World War I, commanding vessels operating in the war zone. Following the war, he returned to merchant marine service until his retirement in 1921. Maritime historian Michael Jay Mjelde has chronicled the colorful life and career of this “down-east” man of the sea, mining available first-person accounts, interviews with family members, government records, and maritime archives on both coasts. The result is a narrative in clear, highly engaging prose that puts readers on the tilting decks and noisy wharfs frequented by Gillespie. Through Mjelde’s retelling of a remarkable life, the age of clipper ships, the Cape Horn trade, and oceangoing steamers comes into vivid relief, affording a richly embossed assessment of Captain Gillespie’s life and times. From Whaler to Clipper Ship adds a layer of full-bodied context to our understanding of this pivotal era in American maritime history. The wealth of detail will appeal to scholars, students, and maritime history enthusiasts.