The Collected Library, Including Americana and Early Photography

Locations vary, ca. 1843-1847. Group of nine documents related to Capt. Hiram Paulding's command of the USS Vincennes, while attached to the Home Squadron on a voyage to the Far East, one that was riddle with issues of disease. Conditions vary, most with creasing from old folds, and scattered foxing. One accompanied by a typed transcript. Includes:

1. A list of the Officers, crew & marine Guard U.S. Ship "Vincennes." June 1, 1843 .Bifolium, 12 3/4 x 8 in. (324 x 203 mm). Manuscript list of those on board the ship, totaling 191 members.

2. True copy of a letter sent by Capt. Paulding to Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft. Rio de Janiero. August 14, 1845. Bifolium, 12 3/4 x 8 in. (324 x 203 mm). Regarding cases of varioloid on the ship, and upon relaying it up the chain of command, he says "...Comm. Parker declined to receive them, apprehending that the Varioloid might be communicated to his crew...I am thus constrained to keep them in this ship...It will be remembered by the Department that I am destined for a cruise in a warm climate..."

3. Autograph letter, signed by Captain Thomas Weyman of the USS Columbus to Paulding. Bifolium, 10 x 8 in. (254 x 203 mm.) November 4, 1845. In part: "...I hear your sick list is much increased and that you have some cases of dysentery on board, which I regret much to hear..."

4. Letter signed by A. Bowie, acting surgeon on board the Vicennes to Capt. Paulding. December 22, 1845. Bifolium, 9 1/2 x 8 in. (241 x 203 mm). In part: "In view of the extremely enfeebled condition of the crew...I would recommend, if not greatly insist...our stopping at the Pelew Islands for the purpose of...supplying them with fresh provisions and a larger allowance of water. The malignant character of the Dysentery...preclude the hope of any permanent amelioration...I would also mention that a case of scurvy was reported last evening...

5. Letter signed by A. Bowie, acting surgeon on board the Vicennes to Capt. Paulding. January 18, 1847. 12 1/2 x 8 in. In part: "I would respectfully suggest the propriety of a speedy removal of our sick on shore...on our arrival at Cape-Town. I deem it indispensably necessary to insure the lives of most of them...the health of the well, is greatly prejudiced and jeopardized by breathing so constantly an atmosphere violated by the foul emanations...

6. Two manuscript lists, sizes vary, ca. 1847. Listing men who have died or "been discharged, transferred, or left on shore sick during the cruise of the USS Vincennes, 1845 ,46 ,47." List includes names, rank, location, and cause of death if applicable.

7. Two documents relieving Paulding of command of the USS Vincennes, granting a leave of absence, and giving next orders.. One by Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason. April 6, 1847, the other by signed by J.M. Keever April 7, 1847.

Paulding sailed the Vincennes to the far east with a squadron under the command of Commodore James Biddle (1783-1848), that departed from Hampton Roads on June 4, 1845. The objective was to deliver a letter from Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to Caleb Cushing, the American ambassador in China, authorizing him to attempt negotiations with the government of Japan, with the hopes of establishing a trade agreement. When the fleet arrived in Macau however, they found Cushing had already departed for home, and his successor Alexander Everett was too ill to make the journey.

Biddle decided attempt the negotiations himself, and on July 20, 1846 the Vincennes and Columbus anchored off of Uraga. His reception with the Japanese delegation was disastrous however, at one point while aboard the ship of the shogunate, Biddle was knocked to the ground by a samurai guard after misunderstanding instructions. Apologies were exchanged, but the Americans were told that Japan forbade all commerce with foreign nations other than the Dutch, and the squadron departed shortly after. Japan would remain closed to American trade until Commodore Matthew Perry's expedition seven years later.

Hiram Paulding (1797-1878) was a career U.S. Naval Officer who served with distinction from the War of 1812 through the American Civil War, eventually attaining the rank of Rear Admiral.