Jack in the Forecastle; or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale

452 pp. Includes black-and-white frontispiece and illustrations. A plain and faithful account of the cruises, rambles and adventures of the writer during 8 years of his early life. [SLEEPER, JOHN SHERBURNE], “HAWSER MARTINGALE” (1794-1878). An author and journalist from New England, John Sherburne Sleeper first went to sea in 1809 as a cabin boy and assumed his first command in 1821. By 1825 he was captain of an East Indiaman, and he spent much of his career in merchant service out of Boston. After retiring from the sea in 1830, he began working in the printing industry, publishing and editing several newspapers in Lowell and Boston. Using the pseudonym “Hawser Martingale,” Sleeper published several books that fictionalized his adventures at sea. His early stories, serialized in the newspapers he edited, focused on the deadly combination of drunkenness and mutiny at sea; given the opportunity, Sleeper rarely failed to preach moral reform and temperance. When he avoided moralizing, Sleeper’s humor could illustrate the vitality and comedic aspects of life at sea.