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Image: Melville's Desertion from the Acushnet

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Description: The desertion by Melville and shipmate Richard (Toby) Greene, as claimed in Melville's first book (and corroborated by Toby), here is supported by surviving evidence: an affidavit from the Captain of the Acushnet. An exact date is also provided (July 9, 1842) and this date would seem to fall some weeks later than the timeline suggested by Melville. However, this affidavit from the Captain was not created until almost a year later (June 2, 1843) and no other known corroboration of this date, such as the ship's log, seems to have survived. It is unknown if the Captain may have had motivation to post-date any of the various desertions from his ship. This is my annotated photo of a scan of a public domain photostat held in the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Reading Room at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
Title: Melville's Desertion from the Acushnet
Credit: Own work
Author: Lewismr
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes

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