The Davistown Museum

A selection of books which provide an introduction to American and New England history after 1500. The most important citations, such as Samuel Eliot Morison's The European Discovery of America, are printed in bold typeface throughout our bibliographies. These are essential reading for anyone interested in Maine history. They include our fifteen or twenty favorite texts and articles.

Also check our list of Archaeology texts and Archaeology or history-related journals. We also have a listing on the website of other books in the Davistown Museum library that have been donated, but are not in one of our bibliographies. These include many other history, maritime and technology texts.

Adair, William. (1990). The Gilder's manual. Society of Gilders, Washington, D.C.

Albion, Robert Greenhalgh, Baker, William A. and Labaree, Benjamin Woods. (1972). New England and the sea. Published for the Marine Historical Association, Mystic Seaport, by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT. IS.

This maritime history of New England is particularly relevant for anyone studying the maritime history of Maine as a large percentage of this books contents pertain to or reference shipbuilding activities in Maine. While not containing a great deal of detail about the florescence of the New England cod fishery in eastern Maine in the first half of the 19th century and the shipbuilding boom that accompanied this industry, this text contains a wealth of information about the coasting trade in New England and the beneficial impact of the Navigation Act of March 1817, which prohibited foreign vessels from participating in the coastal trade.
"Shipbuilding of sorts was scattered along the whole New England coast from Passamaquoddy Bay to Connecticut. It was said of Maine: 'There is scarcely a cove on the coast that did not at one time or another contain a building yard.' To some extent that is true of the coastal towns to the southward, although shipbuilders were steadily migrating from Massachusetts to Maine because of its more generous timber supply. By 1815 the North River south of Boston was terminating its once remarkable career as a shipbuilding center. Perhaps the most distinctive building port was Essex, close to the fishing ports of Cape Ann, for which it long turned out excellent fishing schooners. The little ports of far eastern Maine also concentrated on that type of small vessel. These smaller communities required little sophisticated designing or elaborate construction apparatus for their building." (pg. 141).
Using Commerce and Navigation in the United States as a source, the editors provide a particularly interesting comparison of New England's import and export cargos and shipping with that of New York: "'Commerce' refers to the import and export cargoes: that was New York's sphere of leadership. 'Navigation' refers to the ships and the men that carried those cargoes. In that saltier aspect New England's lead was equally impressive. By 1860, New York accounted for 68 percent of the nation's imports and 36 percent of its exports; New England's share was only 11 and 5 percent respectively. But in tonnage 'owned' (that is, registered, enrolled, and licensed) New England had 46 percent to New York's 26. In shipbuilding the New England lead was very much larger, at 82 percent to 11 percent; in whaling and fishing the Yankee share was almost a monopoly. In shipmasters, Maine and Massachusetts had 1,902 to New York's 459, while in 'mariners' the down-east lead was roughly two to one at 25,389 to 12,141. And many of those seagoing New Yorkers were transplanted New Englanders." (pg. 99).
The quote above doesn't specify how many of the 82% of New York's ships were built in Maine, but it would have been a large majority in view of the decline of shipbuilding in North River, Massachusetts and the restricted tidal range at both Medford and Essex. This text makes very clear that Maine, with its vast timber resources, offered both a ready supply of lumber and a large pool of experienced shipbuilders, making Maine-built ships much more reasonable than those from any other region.

Anderson, Robert Charles. (1996). The great migration begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. 3 vols. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA.

Anderson, Robert Charles. (2002). The complete Great Migration Newsletter: Volumes 1-10. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. IS.

Anderson, Robert Charles, Sanborn, G.F., Jr. and Sanborn, Melinde Lutz. (1999). The great migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, Volume I, A-B. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA.

Anderson, Romola and Anderson, R.C. (1963). The sailing ship: Six-thousand years of history. Bonanza Books, NY.

Andrews, Charles M. (1935). The Colonial period of American history: Vol. 1: The Settlements. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. IS.

Ansel, Willits D. (1973). Restoration of the smack Emma C. Berry at Mystic Seaport 1969-1971. Marine Historical Association, Mystic, CT. IS.

Author unknown. (1952). The Cambridge economic history of Europe. Cambridge, UK.

Bagatin, Pier Luigi. (2002). Il Legno nell'arte: Wood carvings and inlays of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. Antilia, Siena, Italy. IS.

Bailyn, Bernard. (1955). The New England merchants in the seventeenth century. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. IS.

Baker, William. (1962). Colonial vessels: Some seventeenth-century ship designs. Barre Publishing Co., Barre, MA. IS.

Baker, William. (1962). Sloops and shallops. Barre Publishing Co., Barre, MA.

Banks, Charles Edward. (1930). The Winthrop fleet of 1630. Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA.

Banks, Charles Edward. (1997). The Planters of the Commonwealth. Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD. IS.

Barbour, Philip L. Ed. (1986). The complete works of Captain John Smith. 3 vols. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.

Barlow, Ronald S. (1985). The Antique tool collectors's guide to value. Windmill Publishing Company, El Cajon, CA. IS.

Barnes, Robert and Catherine. (1983). Genealogies of Rhode Island families: from Rhode Island periodicals, Vol II Smith – Yates. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD. IS.

Bealer, Alex W. (1976). The Tools that built America. Barre Publishing, Barre, MA. IS.

Benes, Peter. (1986). Old-Town and the waterside: Two hundred years of tradition and change in Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, 1635 - 1835. The Historical Society of Old Newbury, Newburyport, MA. IS.

Bennett, Lerone, Jr. (1961). Before the Mayflower: A history of the negro in America 1619 - 1966. Johnson Publishing Inc., Chicago, IL. IS(2).

Beston, Henry. (1942). The St. Lawrence. Farrar & Rinehart, New York, NY. IS.

Bethlehem Steel Corporation. (1980). Bethlehem tool & die steel manual. Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Bethlehem, PA. IS.

Bigelow, Deborah et al. (1991). Gilded wood: Conservation and history. Sound View Press, Madison, CT. IS.

Black, John Donald. (1950). The rural economy of New England. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Blackburn, Graham. (1974). The Illustrated encyclopedia of woodworking handtools, instruments & devices. Simon and Schuster, New York, NY. IS.

Blandford, Percy W. (1976). Country craft tools. Funk & Wagnalls, New York, NY. IS.

Bowker, Francis E. (1993). Three-masted schooners: a compilation of three-masted schooners built on the American East Coast. Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc., Mystic, CT.

Boyer, Carl, 3rd. (1977). Ship passenger lists: National and New England (1600 – 1825). Compiler, Newhall, CA. IS(2).

Boynton, Lindsay. (1995). Gillow furniture designs 1760-1800. The Bloomfield Press, Royston, England

Bradford, William. (1963). Of Plymouth Plantation: 1620-1647. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY. IS.

Brereton, John. (2000). Discoverie of the North part of Virginia. Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, WA. IS.

Brighton, Raymond A. (1979). They came to fish. 2 vols. Randall/Winebaum Enterprises, Dover, NH. IS.

Brittain, A. and Morton, P. (1980). Engraving on precious metals. N.A.G. Press Ltd, London, England. IS.

Brooks, Van Wyck. (August 1940). New England: Indian Summer 1865-1915.E P Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, NY. IS.

Burgess, Robert H. (1975). Chesapeake sailing craft. Tidewater Publishers, Cambridge, MD. IS.

Carroll, Charles F. (1973). The timber economy of Puritan New England. Brown University Press, Providence, RI.

Chase, Mary Ellen. (1961). The fishing fleet of New England. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.

Chapelle, Howard I. (1960). The national watercraft collection. United States National Museum Bulletin 219. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. IS.

"The general coastwise schooner trade was in a huge variety of cargoes; lumber, flour, salt, sugar, grain, coal, wood staves and hoops, ice, firewood, salt fish, sand, stone, bricks, lime, hay, farm produce, manufactures, and 'notions.' Cotton, grain, and other bulk cargoes were often lightered to a loading port by coasting schooners. Livestock was often carried and on the Maine coast schooner loads of sheep were often carried between the mainland and the islands, which were once used as grazing grounds. Coasting packets were once very profitable, and even after steamers had taken over the important runs between large ports, the schooner packet was able to serve the small coastal towns and villages. Some of these packets operated until after the Civil War, by which time the railroads and steamers had reached most of the coastal areas, and highway transport had also developed. The schooner packet, usually built for the purpose or a converted fisherman or coaster with a reputation as a smart sailer, generally was no more than a sharp-ended coaster in model. The rig was that of a coaster, of perhaps greater sail area than usual. If the packet run was long enough to warrant sleeping quarters, the cabin was fitted for passengers, the after trunk being usually given up to passengers and the captain, and the crew being quartered forward as usual. The hold was fitted for light cargo, but some vessels had large hatches fitted with temporary ramps to allow carrying carriages and wagons in the hold as well as horses. Some of the packet operators, particularly in eastern New England, had arrangements with stage-coach lines that permitted the transfer of mail, packaged goods, and passengers." (pg. 42-43).

Church, Albert Cook. (1940). American fishermen. Bonanza Books, New York, NY. IS.

"The sparmakers, too--usually in Gloucester they would be--are great craftsmen. To see them take a long pine stick and begin to shape it! With no more than a string, a piece of chalk, a maul, two or three tools, and their eyes--don't forget their eyes--they would start in. It would all be done by hand. And then to see them on the last day--the space about them ankle deep in pine chips--squinting at the long spar from one end, then from the other end, then from each side. And then straight down a few times, and then do it all over again, with the adz, maybe, taking off another shaving of the thickness and square area of a baby's thumbnail. And then a final, loving pat, and to the owner or vessel captain it was meant for: 'There she is. Varnish her and step her--there she is!'" (pg. 24).

Chippendale, Thomas. (1966). The Gentleman & cabinet-maker's director. Dover Publications, New York, NY. IS.

Clark, Charles E. (1970). The eastern frontier: The settlement of northern New England 1610-1763. Alfred A. Knopf, NY, NY. Reprinted in 1983 by University Press of New England, Hanover, MA. IS.

Clark, William H. (1952). The History of Winthrop, Massachussetts, 1630 - 1952. Winthrop Centennial Committee, Winthrop, Massachussetts. IS.

Connolly, Harold. (1960). Historic Nova Scotia. Ministry of Trade and Industry, Halifax, Nova Scotia. IS.

Cotter, John L. (1958). Archeological excavations at Jamestown Colonial National Historical Park and Jamestown National Historic Site Virginia. Archeological Research Series Number Four. National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

Coxere, Edward. (1946). Adventures by sea of Edward Coxere. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. IS.

Crockett, Walter Hill. (1938). Vermont: the Green Mountain State - Volumes I - IV. Vermont Farm Bureau, Burlington, VT. IS.

Crosby, William George; Locke, John Lymburner; Abbot, Herman; White, William. (1989). Early histories of Belfast Maine. Picton Press, Camden, ME. IS.

Cumming, William P., Skelton, Raleigh A., and Quinn, David B. (1972). The discovery of North America. American Heritage Press, New York, NY. IS.

Cummings, Albert Lowell. (1979). The framed houses of Massachusetts Bay. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. IS.

Cuneo, Ernest. (1963). Science and history. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, NY, NY. IS.

Cutler, Carl C. (1930). Greyhound of the sea: The story of the American clipper ship, Putnam, NY. IS.

David-Neel, Alexandra and Yongden, Lama. (1967). City Lights Books, San Francisco, CA. IS.

Davis, Charles G. (1974). Ships of the past. Crown Publishers, NY. IS.

Davis, Fred. (1975). Country tools: essential hardware & livery. Charles Scribner, New York, NY. IS.

Deetz, James. (1977). In small things forgotten: The archaeology of early American life. Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY, NY.

DeVoto, Bernard. (1943). The Year of decision: 1846. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. IS(2).

Divis, Jan. (1976). Silberstempel aus aller Welt. Dausien, Hanau, Germany. IS.

Doerner, Max. (1984). The materials of the artist and their use in painting. Harvest, New York, NY. IS.

Dryfhout, John H. (1982). The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH.

Duncan, Roger F. (2000). Dorothy Elizabeth: building a traditional wooden schooner. W. W. Norton & Co., New York, NY. IS.

Durand, Pierre and Mahony, Conor. (2002). Chinese export porcelain including figures from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gill. The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, NY. IS.

Early American Industries Association. (1976). The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association: 1933-1958. EAIA, South Burlington, VT. .

Eaton, Walter Richard. (n.d.). Nantucket. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, New York, NY. IS.

Essex Institute. (1944). Ship registers of the distric of Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1789-1875, compiled from the Gloucester customs house records, now on deposit at the Essex institute. The Essex Institute, Salem, MA.

Everett, Rev. Noble Warren. (1884). History of Wareham. In: Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Plymouth County, Mass. J. W. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia, PA.

Farmer, Bert E. (1978). Were the English the first to discover America? Maine Archaeological Society Bulletin 18(1). pg. 41-47.

Flocking, Johann, Walkling, Henry and Buhrmester, Ernst. (1973). Lehrbuch für tischler (Textbook for Carpenters). Gebrüder Jänecke, Hanover, Germany. IS.

Fisher, Carleton Edward. (1970). History of Clinton, Maine. Carleton Edward Fisher, Winthrop, ME. IS.

Forbes, Allan. (1915). Whale ships and whaling scenes as portrayed by Benjamin Russell. Second Street Bank & Trust Co., Boston, MA. IS(2).

Fritz, Gayle J. (1990). Multiple pathways to farming in precontact eastern north America. Journal of World Prehistory 4(4).University of Washington Press, pg. 387-435.

Fritz, Gayle J. (1190). Are the first American farmers getting younger?. Current Anthropology 35. pg. 305-308.

Gage, Mary and James. (2005). The Art of Splitting Stone. Powwow River Books, Amesbury, MA.

Gamble, Jay M. (1971). Steamboats on the Muskingum. Steamboat Historical Society of America, Providence, RI.

Gault, Phil. (1974). Collector's guide to early American tools. L-W Promotions, Gas City, IN. IS.

Gebler, Ernest. (1950). The Plymouth adventure. Doubleday & Company, Garden City, NY. IS.

Gray, Ruth, Editor. (1988). Maine families in 1790, Vol. 1. Picton Press, Camden, ME. IS.

Greenhill, Basil. (1988). The merchant schooners. Naval Institute Press, National Maritime Museum, UK. W.

Contains an important chapter on the Newfoundland trade, c. 1480 f.

Hahn, Harold. (1981). The Colonial Schooners: 1763-1775. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. IS.

Hale, Nancy. (1963). New England discovery. Coward-McCann, New York, NY. IS.

Hammond, Robert R. (1972). An Era to remember: A historical sketch of the shipbuilding industry in West Washington County. Washington County Historical Society, Harrington, ME. IS.

Handlin, Oscar. (1963). The Americans: A new history of the people of the United States. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. IS.

Hanna, Jay S. (1975). Marine carving handbook: the design and making of billetheads, trailboards, and other marine carvings. International Marine Publishing Co., Camden, ME. IS.

Harrington, Donald. (1986). Let us build a city: eleven lost towns. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, NY. IS.

Harris, Cyril M. (2006). Dictionary of architecture and construction. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. IS.

Harrison, Peter J. (1999). Fences: Authentic details for design and restoration. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. IS.

Hawkins, David. (1987). Techniques of wood surface decoration. Sterling Publishing Co., New York, NY. IS.

Hinckley, F. Lewis. (1960). Directory of the historic cabinet woods. Crown Publishers, New York, NY. IS.

Huth, Hans. (1974). Roentgen furniture. Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, England. IS.

Kauffman, Henry J. (1972). American axes. Stephen Greene Press, Brattleboro, VT. IS.

Hawke, David. (1966). The colonial experience. Macmillan Publishing Company, NY, NY. IS(2).

Haydon, Roger. (1982). Upstate travels, British views of nineteenth-century New York. Syracuse University Press, NY. IS.

Heckman, Richard D. (1968). Yankees under sail: A collection of the best sea stories from "Yankee Magazine" with rare photographs taken during the age of sail. Yankee, Inc., Dublin, NH. IS.

Hoadley, R. Bruce. (1993). Identifying wood: accurate results with simple tools. The Taunton Press, Newtown, CT.

Hoffman, Bernard G. (1961). Cabot to Cartier: Sources for a historical ethnography of northeastern North America, 1497-1550. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada.

Holbrook, Stewart H. (1947). The Story of American railroads. Crown Publishers, New York, NY. IS.

Holden, Raymond P. (1958). The Merrimack. Rinehart & Co., New York, NY. IS.

Holmes, Oliver W. and Rohrbach, Peter T. (1983). Stagecoach east: Stagecoach days in the east from the colonial period to the Civil War. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. IS.

Horsley, John E. (1978). Tools of the maritime trades. International Marine Publishing Co., Camden, ME. IS.

Hothem, Lar. (1986). Collecting Indian knives: Identification and values. Books Americana, Florence, AL. IS.

Hubbard, William. [ca. 1865] (1971). The History of the Indian wars in New England from the first settlement to the termination of the war with King Philip, in 1677. Ed. by Samuel G. Drake. Burt Franklin, New York, NY.

Hume, Ivor Noel. (1972). A Guide to artifacts of Colonial America. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY. IS(2).

Hutchinson, Thomas. (1936). History of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. 3 vols. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Huse, Donna, Ed. (1982). Spinner: People and culture in southeastern Massachusetts. Vol. II. Spinner Publications, New Bedford, MA. IS.

Ingram, T. L. (1986). Dictionary of English furniture makers 1660-1840. The Furniture History Society, Leeds, England. IS.

Innis, Harold A. (1940). The cod fisheries: The history of an international economy. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. IS.

James, Sideny V. (1963). Three visitors to early Plymouth. Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA.

Johansen, Bruce E. and Grinde, Donald A., Jr. (1997). The encyclopedia of Native American biography: Six hundred life stories of important people from Powhatan to Wilma Mankiller. H. Holt, New York, NY.

Katcher, Philip. (1975). Armies of the American wars 1753-1815. Hastings House, New York, NY. IS.

Kebabian, Paul B. (1978). American woodworking tools. New York Graphic Society, Boston, MA. IS.

Kemp, Peter and Ormond, Richard. (1986). The great age of sail: Maritime art and photography. Facts on File Publications, NY, NY. IS.

Kennametal. (1987). Tool application handbook. Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA. IS.

Kenny, Herbert A. (1971). Cape Ann: Cape America. J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, NY. IS.

King, Thomas Starr. (1859). The White Hills: their legends, landscape, and poetry. Isaac N. Andrews, North Conway, NH. IS.

Klatt, Erich. (1973). Die Konstruktion alter Mobel. Julius Hoffmann Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany. IS.

Klingman, David. (1971). Food surpluses and deficits in the American colonies, 1768-1772. Journal of Economic History. 31(3). pg. 553-569.

Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. (2000). Captain John Smith: a select edition of his writings. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

Kurlansky, Mark. (1997). Cod: A biography of the fish the changed the world. Penguin Books, NY, NY. IS.

Kurlansky, Mark. (1999). The Basque history of the world. Walker & Company, NY, NY.

Kybalova, Ludmila. (1968). Pictorial encyclopedia of fashion. Crown Publishers, New York, NY. IS.

Lawrence, D.H. (1986). Etruscan places. Nuova immagine editrice, San Quirico, Siena. IS.

Leach, Douglas Edward. (1966). The northern colonial frontier 1607-1763. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NY, NY.

Levitt, Steven D. and Dubner, Stephen J. (2006) Freakonomics. Harper Collins, New York, NY. IS.

Lockridge, Kenneth (1970) A New England Town: The First Hundred Years. W.W. Norton, New York, NY. pg. 147-161.

Lowell, Laura Scott and Lowell, Jim. (2001). Legacy: Shipbuilders, fishermen and the age of the Gloucester schooners. Video. Yesterday's News Productions, Rockport, MA.

Luckenbach, Alvin H., Clark, Wayne E., and Levy, Richard S. (1987). Rethinking cultural stability in eastern North American prehistory: linguistic evidence from eastern North America. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 3. pg. 1-29.

Maclay, Edgar Stanton. (1899). A history of American privateers. D. Appleton, New York, NY. Reprinted by Burt, Franklin, NY in 1968.

MacGregor, David R. (1982). Schooners in four centuries. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD.

MacGregor, David R. (1984). Merchant sailing ships 1815 - 1850: Supremacy of sail. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD.IS.

MacGregor, David R. (1988). Merchant sailing ships 1850 - 1875: Heyday of sail. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD.IS.

MacGregor, David R. (1988). Merchant sailing ships 1775 - 1815: Sovereignty of sail. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. IS.

MacGregor, David R. (1988). Fast sailing ships: Their design and construction, 1775 - 1875. Second edition. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. IS.

MacTaggart, Peter & Ann. (1984). Practical gilding. Mac & Me Ltd, Welwyn, England. IS.

Marlowe, George Francis. (1942). The Old bay paths. Hastings House, New York, NY. IS.

Mason, Pippa and Gregory, Michael. (1989). Of gilding. Arnold Wiggins & Sons Ltd, London, England. IS.

Mayer, Ralph. (1981). A dictionary of art terms and techniques. Barnes & Noble Books, New York, NY. IS.

McKay, Richard C. (1988). Some famous sailing ships and their builder: Donald McKay: A study of the American sailing packet and clipper eras, with biographical sketches of America's foremost designer and master-builder of ships, and a comprehensive history of his many famous ships. The Easton Press, Norwalk, CT. IS.

McManis, Douglas R. (1975). Colonial New England: A historical geography. Oxford University Press, NY, NY.

McNeil, Ian. (1968). Joseph Bramah: A century of invention 1749-1851. David & Charles Ltd, Newton Abbot, England. IS.

Melder, Keith E. (1976). The Village and the Nation. Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA. IS.

Mercer, Henry C. (1975). Ancient carpenters' tools. Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, PA. IS.

Miehr, H. (1995). Praktisches Handbuch der Lackir- Vergoldungs- Bronzir- Beiz- Farbe- und Polirkunst. Th. Schafer, Hanover, Germany. IS.

Miller, Judith & Martin. (1988). The Antiques directory: Furniture. Portland House, New York, NY. IS.

Mitchell, Edwin Valentine. (1950). The Romance of New England antiques. Current Books, New York, NY. IS.

Mitman, Carl W. (1923). Catalogue of the watercraft collection in the United States National Museum. United States National Museum, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.

Moore, Harris W. (1942). Chip carving. The Manual Arts Press, Peoria, IL. IS.

Morgan, Edmund S. (1958). The Puritan dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. IS.

Morgan, H.T. (1945). The Romance of Chinese metal art. Quon-Quon Company, Los Angeles, CA. IS.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1956). The intellectual life of colonial New England. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. IS.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1956). The story of the "Old Colony" of New Plymouth [1620-1692]. Alfred A. Knopf, NY. IS.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1960). The Story of Mount Desert Island. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1962). One boy's Boston 1887-1901. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA. IS.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1965). The Oxford history of the American People. Oxford University Press, NY, NY. IS.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1967). "Old Bruin" Commodore Matthew C. Perry: 1794-1858: The American Naval officer who helped found Liberia, hunted pirates in the West Indies, practised diplomacy with the Sultan of Turkey and the King of the two Sicilies; commanded the gulf squadron in the Mexican War, promoted the steam navy and the shell gun, and conducted the naval expedition which opened Japan. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. IS.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1971). The European discovery of America: The northern voyages A.D. 500-1600. Oxford University Press, NY. IS(2).

The single most important text on early explorers of Maine (up to 1600) and must reading for anyone studying Maine or American history. Morison, however, includes no information about the voyages to Maine after 1600 by Gosnold, Waymouth, Smith and others. Davistown Museum top ten.
See our excerpts from Morison in the Native American bibliographies and Ancient Pemaquid essays. Also see our information file on Morison's excellent description of the wet and dry fisheries of Labrador and Newfoundland, as well as Morison's colorful description of David Ingram's trek through Maine from the gulf coast and the role he played in the evolution of the myth of Norumbega.
Morison also has an extended description of what he terms the "glorious kingdom of Norumbega" in chapter 14 (pg. 464). He provides an extensive description of how early European explorers came to believe in Norumbega as a mythical city on the Penobscot laden with riches and furs. Morison notes that Girolano da Verrazzano's map of his brother's 1524 voyage is the first appearance of Norumbega (Oranbega) on a European map.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. (1974). The European discovery of America: The southern voyages 1492 - 1616. Oxford University Press, NY. IS.

Mundy, James H. and Shettleworth, Earl G. (1977). The story of the Grand Eagle, Charles G. Bryant: Maine architect and adventurer. Maine Historical Preservation Committee, Augusta, ME. IS.

Murchie, Guy. (1947). Saint Croix: the sentinel river. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, NY. IS.

Mussey, Benjamin B. (1855). The Green Mountain boys. Sanborn, Carter & Bazin, Boston, MA. IS.

Naish, G.P.B. (1956). Ships and shipbuilding. IN: A history of technology. Vol. III. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.

Natick Federal Savings and Loan Association. (1948). The story of Natik. The Suburban Press, Natik, MA. IS (2).

Nutting, Wallace. (1965). Furniture of the Pilgrim Century: Vol. 1. Dover Publications, New York, NY. IS.

Ogg, Frederic Austin. (1921). The Old Northwest. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. IS.

Oleson, Tryvgi J. (1964). Early voyages and northern approaches. Oxford University Press, London.

O'Neil, Isabel. (1971). The Art of the painted finish for furniture & decoration. William Morrow & Co., New York, NY. IS.

Packard, Aubigne Lermond. (1950). A Town that went to sea. Falmouth Publishing House, Portland, ME. IS.

Paget, Valerian. (1909). Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement 1608-1650. John McBride Co., New York, NY. IS.

Park, Edwards. (1983). Treasures of the Smithsonian. Smithsonian Books, Washington, DC. IS(2).

Peet, Brian. (2008). The Seuffert legacy: New Zealand Colonial master craftsmen. Icarus Publishing, Auckland, New Zealand. IS.

Pendergast, James F., and Trigger, Bruce G. (1972). Cartier's Hochelaga and the Dawson site. McGill-Queen's Iniversity Press, Montreal, Canada.

Perry, Ralph Barton. (1964). Puritanism and democracy. Harper and Row, Publishers, NY, NY. IS(2).

Peterson, Harold L. (1962). The Treasury of the gun. Golden Press, New York, NY. IS.

Phillips, James Duncan. (1937). Salem in the eighteenth century. Essex Institute, Salem, MA. Reprinted in 1969. IS.

Pierce, Cecil E. (1992). Fifty years a planemaker and user. Monmouth Press, Monmouth, ME. IS.

Polkinghorne, R.K. & M.I.R. (1923). Weaving & other pleasant occupations. Brentano's, New York, NY. IS.

Pradere, Alexandre. (1989). French furniture makers. Sotheby's, London, England.

Prince, Hezekiah. (1965). Journals of Hezekiah Prince Jr: 1822-1828. Crown Publishers, New York, NY. IS.

Proudfoot, Christopher and Walker, Philip. (1984). Woodworking tools. Phaidon - Christie's, Oxford, England. IS.

Robinson, J.H. (1910). Guide to Nantucket. J.H. Robinson, Nantucket, MA. IS.

Quinn, David B. (1940). The Voyages and colonising enterprises of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Hakluyt Society, London, England.

Quinn, David B. (1962). The voyage of Etienne Bellenger to the Maritimes in 1583: A new document. Canadian Historical Review, 43. pg. 328-343.

Quinn, David B. (1977). North America from earliest discovery to first settlements: The Norse voyages to 1612. Harper and Row, NY, NY.

Along with Morrison (1984), one of the best narratives of the early exploration of North America.
This text includes an important discussion of Norse settlements in Greenland and their explorations in North America including the only documented Norse settlement in Newfoundland at L'Anse aux Meadows. Of particular interest is the map of this Norse site, where evidence of a charcoal kiln and a smithy for forging the nearby deposits of bog iron were discovered during the archaeological explorations in the 1960s. (pg. 39).
"Further north along the coast, the marginal corn-growing of the Micmac and Beothuk shaded into the simple mobile hunting and gathering of the Montagnais-Nascapi." (pg. 7). This is a particularly interesting comment in view of the widespread contention among contemporary archaeologists and historians that the Kennebec River was the northern limit for agrarian activities in northern New England and the Maritimes.
Quinn makes mention of the traditional definition of Norumbega as New England, especially the area from the Hudson River to the Penobscot River. For early explorers, fishermen and coastal traders, New England was Norumbega until renamed New England by Captain John Smith in the early 17th century.
Quinn accepts Champlain's assertion that he met the Bashabes, Chief of Mawooshen while exploring the upper Penobscot Bay. "Indians met them and guided them upstream to meet with their high chief (or Bashabees) until the river suddenly became obstructed at the Fall Line. Champlain was then approximately at the site of modern Bangor. He identified the river as the river of Norumbega (and called it Pentagoët, the Indian name). (pg. 396).
Quinn then quickly summarizes George Waymouth's 1605 voyage up the St. George River. Again the open and fertile land he found along the river hints yet again that agrarian activities by Native Americans extended far beyond the Kennebec River. The Wawenoc Indians make their only appearance in the narrative in this chapter. "The Archangel, which left the Thames on March 5, 1605, may have intended to sail to the south of Cape Cod and pick up, where Gosnold left it, the search for Refugio; but in fact she turned north when the shoals and sandhills of Cape Cod became visible and worked her way across the Gulf of Maine to Monhegan on May 17. From there, the Georges Islands and the mainland behind looked so attractive that Waymouth decided to confine his exploration to this area. His major achievement was to explore the St. George River, the banks of which he found open and fertile and the head of which (at modern Thomastown) seemed suitable for settlement. His associate, James Rosier, had the task of collecting information on plants and animals and of making something of the Penobscot and Wawenocke Indians, whom they met in some numbers both on the islands and mainland. Seizing five of the Indians in the hope of using them as guides and interpreters in later voyages, they left the islands on June 15 and arrived at Dartmouth on July 18." (pg. 400).
At no point does Quinn provide any extensive discussion of the Native American inhabitants whom the first explorers and traders encountered, nor does he make any reference to the great pandemic, which swept through the Native American villages of coastal New England in the second decade of the 17th century.
Reference to the mysterious confederacy of Mawooshen appears yet again. "The Plymouth division of the Virginia Company was ready with a ship by August 12, 1606, the Richard, under the command of Richard Challons, which with twenty-nine men and the Indians Manedo and Sasacomet was to establish a post a 'Pama Quidda in Mayaushon' (Pemaquid, within the territory of the Bashabees of the Abenaki group of tribes known as Mawooshen). Challons was captured by the Spaniards in the Florida Strait on November 10, 1606. A vessel under Thomas Hanham and Martin Pring had been despatched to bring supplies to Challons within two months after his departure; failing to find him at Pemaquid, they left one of Waymouth's Indians, Nahanada, there, explored the rivers of the country, particularly the Sagadahoc River (Kennebec), and returned to England late in the year." (pg. 403).

Quinn, David B. (1983). Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Newfoundland: On the four hundredth anniversary of his annexation of the island to the realm of England. Newfoundland Historical Society, St. John's, Canada.

Quinn, David B. (1990). Explorers and colonies: America, 1500-1625. Hambledon Press, London. IS.

An important source of information on Richard Hakluyt and other early English information sources.
"Richard Hakluyt was the outstanding advocate of English exploration of and settlement in North America between 1580 and 1600, and he continued to take an influential part in North American occasions in the later years of his life. He had exceptional opportunities for collecting material on the colonizing voyages and in the two editions of his voyage-collection, The principall navigations (1589) and the third volume of The principal navigations (1600), he put together much the greater part of what is now known of the colonizing enterprises." (pg. 37).
This text contains some interesting information about the role of Wales in early explorations westward from Bristol (1480 and following). Quinn also notes the Newfoundland fishery as underway by 1502. (pg. 398).

Quinn, David Beers and Quinn, Alison M., Eds. (1983). The English New England voyages, 1602-1608. 2nd series, no. 161. Hakluyt Society, London.

Quinn, David Beers, Quinn, Alison M. and Hillier, Susan, Eds. (1974). England and the discovery of America, 1481 - 1620. In: New American world: A documentary history of North America to 1612. 5 vols. Arno Press, NY, NY.

One of the first of Quinn's important narratives of the discovery and exploration of North America, it is particularly interesting for its contention of an English discovery of North America between 1480 and 1494, prior to John Cabot's 1497 exploration.
This text contains a brief summary of Weymouth's exploration of the St. Georges River. Unlike Quinn's 1977 narrative, he makes no mention of the Wawenoc Indians as those encountered by Weymouth on this expedition. They "...made contact with the Penobscot Indians, who had come out to gather shellfish on the islands and were doing some trade with them, and found out something about the area by means of signs and sketch maps. Eventually they set off to explore the opening into the mainland." (pg. 389-390).

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