Massachusetts Shipping, 1697-1714: A Statistical Study

Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1959. Hardcover. VG/G+ (series of white scuffs to cover edge. rubbing to corners w/ lower corners bumped. spine ends rubbed. interior clean. dustjacket has edge-wear & chips; back edge torn, creased & worn; flap clipped; interior foxed). burgundy cloth w/ gilt emblem; gilt spine printing. 145 pgs w/ tables. burgundy, illustrated dustjacket w/ white printing; protective plastic cover. This authoritative statistical analysis of a Colonial American shipping register provides revealing information about the magnitude of mercantile life in early New England. In thirty-three tables, the authors present in statistical form one of the few remaining fragments of the contents of the Massachusetts Register for the years 1697-1714. This register of colonial American shipping reveals that the Massachusetts fleet was surprisingly large—in fact third in size in the English-speaking world, exceeded only by London and Bristol. The tables and their interpretative introduction point out that the Massachusetts fleet was owned almost entirely by Americans; ownership was spread through an extraordinarily wide range of American society; and very little English capital was involved since one out of every three adult males in Boston held some share in a seagoing vessel registered in those years. The book is also notable for the fact that it is one of the first applications of the IBM for historical research.--Harvard University Press.