19th C. bible belonging to Whaleship Constitution Capt. Joseph Winslow dated 1857. Per Historical Preservation of Nantucket, is information on Joseph Winslow: Susan Winslow went to sea with her husband. Their voyage on the Constitution lasted five years, from 1857 to 1863, and two of their daughters were born aboard ship, joining two other young daughters who had accompanied their parents. While cruising in the South Pacific, Captain Winslow picked up a boat carrying nine men from the wrecked Italian merchant ship Mia Madre of Genoa. They had been adrift for nineteen days, and eight of their companions had perished, furnishing sustenance to the survivors in the same gruesome manner as recounted by survivors of the wreck of the Nantucket ship Essex several decades earlier. Despite the hardships of life on board, Susan Winslow enjoyed it, as expressed in a letter she wrote to her sister-in-law Mary Morrow Winslow, wife of Captain Perry Winslow: “Perry said you like being at sea first rate and so do I, it is a great deal more pleasant than being at home alone.” When the Winslows returned to Nantucket after a long but successful voyage, they bought a house at 19 India Street. Clara Winslow, who went to sea as an infant and spent her first six years on board the Constitution, eventually became the owner of the family home and lived there until 1947. www.nantucketpreservation.org Bible measures approx 8" x 5" x 2". Fair condition.
