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2010 Ashbrook Cup awarded to James Pullin
The Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup is awarded to authors of
articles, books, or other studies concerning United States postal
history from the Colonial Period to 1894. This year it is presented
to James R. Pullin for his book, North Atlantic Packets,
1818-1840: Sailing Departures and Arrivals.
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| Vice-President John Barwis
congratulates Jim Pullin |
Before steamships plied the North Atlantic, American
sailing packets dominated the sea lanes from New York to London and
Liverpool carrying a majority of the mail, passengers, and specie
transported between the United States and Great Britain. Frustrated
in his attempts to identify the ships and sailing dates for the
early transatlantic covers in his collection, Jim built a database
of Sailing Schedules from data in Lloyd’s List and Lloyd’s
Register as well as period newspapers. Years of archival and
museum research produced the 108-page data table at the heart of
this volume. It lists the arrival and departure dates at New York,
London, and Liverpool for ships of the Black Ball, Red Star, Blue
Swallowtail, Red Swallowtail, Dramatic, and Black X packet lines
from the organization of the first packet line in 1818 and continues
until steamships began to capture the mail and passenger business
around 1840.
With his research, Jim has extended and complemented
the work of George Hargest, Walter Hubbard, and Richard Winter by
gathering data for the ships that preceded their studies of
transatlantic mail in the age of steam. Although the sailing tables
are useful by themselves, the other two-thirds of the book provides
a historical context for appreciating maritime postal history in
general and transatlantic mail in the age of sail in particular.
Accounts of the history and development of the six shipping lines
include details about individual vessels such as their fate in
storms, or groundings. Other chapters briefly describe postal rates
and markings; the growth and development of the ports in New York,
Liverpool, and London; ship construction and technology; along with
various economic, political, and military considerations of the
time. Collectors of early transatlantic stampless mail now have a
tool for better understanding their covers along with a historical
context that provides enjoyable reading.
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