Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library The J. Porter Shaw Library at Sun Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Relative Bearings www.maritimelibrarvfriends.org; #10 July, 2008

What would you choose? A Look at Nautical Pulp Fiction from the Robert Eberhardt Collection

by Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian

It's a sunny day. You're reclining on a deck chair- possibly on the beach, possibly on the deck of a cruise ship making for an island port where the

. palm fronds sway in the cool breezes. Nap taken, you reach for one of the books nearby. Which would you rather read? Moby Dick, or "A lusty tale of the South Pacific.. . The Strumpet Sea?" How about, "Adventurer, lover, rogue, spy-he was a Buccaneer Surgeon!" Do you want to find out "What makes Onionhead run? Food or sex?" Too romantic? Perhaps you'd rather try, "The adventures of George Abercrombie Fox--the toughest bastard in the Royal Navy! "

It's taken a long time, but best-sellers are making their way into research libraries, including ours. Public librarians have long known that these are the

books in demand with the reading public, but it's taken longer for research libraries to realize that best-sellers, even pulp novels, have something to offer researchers.

How long? About a hundred and fifty years. Pulp fiction periodicals have been published since the mid-1 9th century, and the Library of Congress' Rare Book and Special Collections Division holds dime novels dating back to the 1860s. But scholarly attention has developed slowly, and it was only, in the later 20th century that research libraries, academics, and even critics began to take notice of the books that have held the loving attention of generations of readers.

--continued on page 4

Dr. Dean Mawdsley First Friend of the Friends During Its First 25 Years

Dr. Dean Mawdsley was a kind and generous man, with a variety of interests which he pursued with intelligence and thoroughness--among which interests to our great good fortune were naval actions of WWII and maritime history in general. Never one to put himself forward, Dean nevertheless played a crucial role in the development of the Library and the Friends over its first 25 years.

He and his wife Mary Lou were the Friends' first Event Coordinators, and while single events since then may have risen to his standard, no subsequent events have featured white linen tablecloths, silver and flower arrangements.

Dean with a challenge grant established the Friends' second endowment; the Dean Mawdsley Acquisition Endowment aims to purchase library materials beyond the reach of the Park Service. The Friends met that challenge, and today his endowment stands at over the halfway mark to what Dean considered would be a level of maturity- $250,000. Dean made it possible for the Library to do what he loved to do-buy good books!

Dean also established a Publications Endowment, from which he withheld his name to create a naming opportunity for a donor who wishes to take advantage of an opportunity to associate with the Friends publishing venture, which to date has successfully published ten monographs and established the Pacific Maritime History Series.

While a board member, Dean donated his World War I1 Naval Actions Library, which marked a major advance in the Library's ability to "preserve the seafaring heritage of Americans" (as stated in the Park's Congressional mandate), especially in the largest seafaring venture of the Arnericaripeople- World War 11. His library-including one of the most extensive collections in existence of World War II Navy Cruise Books-was the second of

three major collections acquired by the Library during the Friends' first 25 years. And today World War I1 is the subject most used in the Library and most requested by inter-library loan.

In conjunction with the Naval Historical Center, the Friends published the second edition of Dean's definitive bibliography of World War I1 Naval Cruise Books-one of the three Mawdsley-related monographs published by the Friends. Second of the three was Dean's definitive history of a San Francisco World War I1 shipyard, Iron Pipes and Steel Ships. The third was actually the first one published; first, Dean took care to recognize the work of his father-in-law in publishing With the Sommelsdijk in the Far Pacific, the wartime journal of Navy doctor Paul M. Ellwood, thereby adding to the World war I1 naval literature a first-person account that very possibly would have otherwise been lost.

In 2000, at the time of Dean's "graduation" from board member to "board member emeritus," we mounted a cruise across the Bay in the museum's historic tug Telco to carry Dean and party to luncheon in Tiburon for the express purpose of recognizing his donations and other contributions to the Library, which even at that time amounted to over a quarter of a million dollars in addition to intangible values, the most important of which were the friendship and moral support of this scholar and gentleman for the Friends and for the Library.

So is briefly described just one sector of Dr. Mawdsley's life. Others have addressed his other interests, his medical career, his family life.

Dr. Dean Mawdsley, a life well lived, 1926-2008.

-David Hull, Principal Librarian

In 2000, Dean was taken to a restaurant in Tiburon to recognize his landmark donations to the Library and the Friends, sailing across the Bay in the museum's

historic tug TELCO.

The upper image is takenfiom the bookplate developed by Dean and the Friends for his WWII Naval Actions Library. Pictured is the top of a classic iron bookcase with oak shelves in the Library Reading Room, where a selection of Dean's library is available for browsing.

Dean and Mary Lou Mawdsley at the Library Friends'25th Anniversary Symposium, October 19, 2007.

Dean in the pilot house of the tug TELCO on the passage from HJ de Street Pier to Tiberon.

Dean established an endowment

Friends 'President Peter Evans, Dr. Dean Mawdsley, to enable the Library to do what

Principal Librarian David Hull and Captain Al Lutz, standing he loved to du-buy good books.

before the museum's historic tug TELCO Here at the restaurant he inspects

3 a good book given to him.

-continuedfrom page I

Until recently our holdings in this area were slight. With the Barbara Johnson Whaling and the Mawdsley World War Two collections came a few titles. The Whaling Collection contained some "boy's adventures" from the past two centuries, and Dean Mawdsley had donated some novels dealing with naval adventures in the Pacific. Was this a major deficiency? Traditional library collection development principles dictate that we collect what has lasting value, and our holdings of Joseph Conrad and Herman Melville are vast.

But which title shaped most ~merican's perceptions of the cruise industry? Was it The Love Boat, the best-seller that was turned into a TV series that's still viewed today? How ideas about sharks? Could it have been another book that spawned another media event called Jaws? For people studying prevalent attitudes of Americans and the sea, best- selling paperbacks hold lasting value, and luckily, the library has just acquired Robert Eberhardt's collection.

Rich in pulp novels, it's all here. The books that brought sailors, whalers, and even naval architects into American homes. Yes, naval architects:

After the tragic death of her fiance, Jo Wilder knows she will never fall in love again. Then Jem Merriman, a handsome naval architect, arrives in Port Penquay- and Jo's past becomes just a memory. Ask of the Wind.

How many people know what a naval architect , does? Readers of Ask of the Wind do. Do most people think of a pirate as a killer endangering modern shipping in the Straits of Malacca, or as a clean, muscular lover stepping out of history who will help one "discover the love of danger, and the danger of love?" David Cordingly, author of Under the Black Flag, explores this issue at great length,

and he couldn't have done it without looking at popular novels, film, and theater.

And how about you? As a kid, did you pick up the Scholastic Books edition of Secret Sea, a "close- hauled adventure in a search for sunken gold?" What words helped to kindle a love of the sea? What books did you read until they fell apart? Which ones would you like to read again?

Many of us on that deck chair will pick up Moby Dick, and will read it again and again, but for those of you would like a taste of non-stop adventure or an exotic tale, a world of heart-stopping thrills awaits. To see the Eberhardt Collection books already cataloged, search our catalog for: Eberhardt collection. I'm adding more every week.

Some of the titles are in'the rare vault, because these books were not published to last, and many of the colors on their covers are as lurid as the day they were published. Some are in the Stacks, tied with a bow to prevent their loose pages from falling out, but they can still be read carefully and enjoyed. To learn more:

Library catalog on the web: http://library.nps.~ov/

Cruel Seas: World War II Merchant Marine- Related Nautical Fiction from the 1930s to Present by Dan Krummes, available in the library and on the web at:

The Fiction Factory, or From Pulp Row to Quality Street: the story of 100 years of Publishing at Street & Smith, by Quentin Reynolds, available in the library.

And pick up one of these books. You won't be the only one who has.

The President's Letter By Richard Geiger

You may be surprised to see my name on this column - well, I certainly am! Although I have been serving as vice president of the Friends and am designated to become president at the end of this year, it has come to pass earlier than expected. Due to personal reasons, Linda Kahn announced her resignation as president at the June 5 board meeting. Linda was a dynamic leader and to her no dream was too big. Her dedication and leadership will be missed!

Many of you may not know me. My relationship with the Library began in 1975, when I walked into the J. Porter Shaw Library at the San Francisco Maritime Museum and asked if they could use a volunteer. I had just moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles while I was finishing up my MLIS from the UCLA School of Library and Information Science.

Librarian David Hull said, "Sure" and we've been friends and colleagues ever since. I served as the third president of the Friends group and have been on the board ever since. This term as president will

be my second, with many distinguished presidents in between.

My interest in maritime topics comes from a deep love of boats and the ocean. In my youth my family vacations were spent cruising to Catalina and the Channel Islands. My family had a little gaff-rigged yawl that my father had built and launched in 193 1. Later I owned a number of rowing and sailboats. My wife, Susan, son, Brendan, and I have taken a number of sailing trips up and down the coast ranging as far south as Manzanillo, Mexico. We've chartered in the San Juan Islands, and tried to include some kind of boating into most of our vacations. Currently we have a rowing and sailing "gunning dory" and a classic Hunter cabin cruiser which we keep in the Delta.

I look forward to working with you and continue Linda's great work for the Friends. Please give me your ideas and let me know how you can help our organization grow and prosper.

for the Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library

1. Color laser printer compatible with Windows XP 2. Color copier with automatic document feeder of up to 30 pages 3. RadioITV time to announce our monthly lectures 4. Books, both maritime and non-maritime, for our book sales program

If you can help with any of these items, please give us a call at 415-561-7040.

Have You Renewed Your Membership?

Dear Friends of the Maritime Museum Library,

You are VERY important to our organization!

Because of your past support, we know that you recognize the value of our esteemed Library as a major national resource and repository of West Coast maritime history.

I am asking you to renew your support at this significant point in our history, as we embark on our second quarter century of recording the epic of the maritime version of "Manifest Destiny": acquiringheceiving, developing and preserving our extensive historical collection and sharing our rich heritage via our dominant position on the Pacific Rim.

We have reached a milestone by completing 25 years of service, and in so doing we've created one of the world's great repositories of seafaring history in the form of publications, oral histories, charts, ephemeral collections and more. The NEXT 25 years present us with new challenges as we seek to continue our collection and preservation efforts at ever increasing cost and limited funding from our National Park Service sponsor. Accompanying this issue you will find an announcement of one of our current projects, named after the Museum's founder-the Karl Kortum Award for Maritime

Certainly, you are aware that we are not a government agency, that we are a public non- profit organization operating under a formal Co- operating Agreement with the National Park Service. Our periodic Newsletter, Relative Bearings, is also provided to bring you current with our latest news.

Please consider [re] joining our membership and introducing new potential members to our organization in support of our mission. Feel free to call and arrange for a visit * and update tour of our Library facilities to fully appreciate how vital and meaningful your support will be. ':

You will find a membership form on the back page of this newsletter for your convenience.

Thank YOU for your continuing interest and support.

-Virgil Caselli Membership Chair

*due to NPS cutbacks it is necessary to arrange for Library visits in advance by contacting Reference Librarian Bill Kooiman at 41 5-561-7033, or Historian Ted Miles at 41 5-561- 7009. Same-day appointments are usually available.

History. perhaps you know of a who might like to submit his or

- Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America

by Eric Jay Dolin W.W. Norton & Company, 2007

Reviewed by Doug Burrill

Whaling was a major multi-century industry in America, beginning with the first European settlers (and, before them, with the native Americans), peaking in the middle of the nineteenth century, beginning to decline with the drilling of Colonel Drake's first U.S. oil well in Titusville, PA in 1859, and virtually disappearing after World War I. This book tells the whole story in 373 very readable pages (actually, there are an additional 75 pages of footnotes which are almost as interesting as the text).

Right up front, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that my interest in this book was first piqued by its half a dozen page coverage of one of my wife's antecedents, Samuel "Fishhook" Mulford. This curmudgeonly colonial Long Island shore whaler went to London twice in the early 1700's to protest in Parliament against the taxing and restriction of whaling by the colonial governors of New York. He was so incensed at losing his wallet to pickpockets there that he lined his pocket with fishhooks, reinforcing his image as a sharp- dealing Yankee with the British bureaucrats.

The book is especially good in its coverage of the Nantucket whaling community, pervasive on the island, particularly during the American Revolution when the British blockade almost forced them to

. . establish a separate peace, and their political tightrope-walking between the two sides made them suspect in both camps.

Upcoming Events The Klebingat Lecture Series takes place on Saturday evenings at 6p.m. at the Maritime Library, Building E, Fort Mason Center. Admission: $5, $4 for Library Friends and SFMNPA members. Reservations: 41 5-561- 7040 or

From Viking to Victorian-A History of Iron in Shipbuilding Saturday, September 6, 2008, 6:00 p. m. Norwegian maritime historian and historic ship restorer Olaf Envig will describe his scientific lab tests and remarkable field tests, sailing in the North Sea, which demonstrated that iron, because of its very crudeness, is a more durable shipbuilding material than steel, and will sign copies of his new book, From Viking to Victorian-A History of Iron

Collecting Evolution: The Unintended Vindication of Charles Darwin Saturday, October 11, 2008, 6:OOp.m. Sailing on the 89-foot schooner Academy in June 1905, this 17-month expedition from San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences collected some 75,000 biological specimens from the Galapagos Islands. Professor Matthew James of the Sonoma State University Department of Geology will examine the historical background of

onservation of rare species and evolutionary tudies based on DNA.

he Recovery of the M a y Rose turday, November 8, 2008, 6: 00 p.m.

autical archeologist, maritime historian and Whether from Nantucket, New Bedford or any of the dozens of lesser whaling ports, American whalers dominated the international industry from the War of 18 12 to the Civil War, providing, at their peak, over 80% of the world's whaling fleet. Dolin tells their story both anecdotally and with a host of interesting ald well-researched facts. I can't think of a more easily read and informative single volume introduction to a major American maritime industry.

Board of Directors Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library

Richard Geiger, President 41 5-777-6001 Publications Committee ~einer~~sfchroniclc .com

Christian Charnaux, Treasurer 510-595-1818 InvestmentFinance Committee charnaux@,sbcglobal.net

Capt. A.L. Bleicher 4 15-56 1-7040

Douglas Burrill 4 15-75 1-891 9 Booksale & InvestmentFinance Committee dncib@,aol.com

Virgil Caselli

Linda Kahn 41 5-346-0643 InvestmentFinance Committee Imkahn@,mindsvrin~.com

Joan Keller Board Liaison

John Kortum Publications Committee

Dr. Timothy Lynch

Ted Rausch

Jim Shuttleworth 818-512-0517

Andrew Skinner a-skinner@ml.com

Dale Vinnedge 408-92 1-72 1 8 Publications Committee dvinnedge@earthlink.net

Jon Derr 415-713-5376 Advisor to the Board jmichaelderr(a7.hotmaiI.com

David Hull, Principal Librarian & NPS Liaison 415-561-7030

dnvid huIl(ii?nps.gov To contact the Library Friends:

. Office: 415-561-7040 Email: melani van vetten@,pa~tner.nvs.aov or maritimelibrarvfriends@yahoo.com Website: www.rnaritim~librarvfriends.org

' Calendar: httv://calendar.~ahoo.com~maritimelibrarvfriends Mailing Address:

Friends of San Francisco Maritime Museum Library Building E, Fort Mason Center San Francisco, CA 94123-1394

Tax ID: 94-2879289

Join the Friends! I would like to advance the Library by becoming one of the following:

o Benefactor $1000/up o Patron $500 o Advocate $100 o Contributor $50 o Supporter $35 o Plus Donation $

My firm has a matching fund for donations.

Telephone(w) (h) (email)

Please make checks payable to the Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Museum Library.

Charge $ to my oVisa o Mastercard o Discover o American Express

Credit Card Number Exp. Date

Membership includes admission for two persons to Friends' events at a reduced rate, free admission to the Hyde Street Pier, and a discount on the purchase of books, photos, and vessel plans at the Library and the Maritime Store. o Please contact me about becoming a volunteer.

Map to the Library and Muni Information

FORT MASON CENTER

-SIR

OBus5top 10 T ~ s e n d , 22 Fillmore, 28 - 19th .4venue. 30 Siock'dn. 47Van Ness, 49 Van Nes$l!di%ioq. 82x haidioP,Vharvc~ Expresb