Report of a Committee of the Linnaean Society... Relative to a Large Marine Animal, Supposed to be a Serpent, Seen Near Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in August, 1817.
1817 · Boston
by Linnaean Society of New England.
Boston: Cummings and Hilliard, 1817. 52 pp. b/w plates.
A great rarity, and the primary document relating to the sea serpent of Cape Ann, one of the most widely reported serpent sightings in American maritime history. First seen in Gloucester harbor in 1817, the creature reappeared off the coast in 1818 and 1819. Knowledgeable mariners and shore bound onlookers of all sorts reported sightings. A minister gave a detailed description of the monster, which was reported in Boston papers. The Linnaean Society sent three objective observers to the scene, and this is their report. In the spirit of strict scientific inquiry, it cites about twenty depositions by locals, provides information about a Norwegian sea snake to whom the mysterious serpent might be related, then gives a detailed description of Scoliophis Atlanticus, a baby sea serpent about three feet long, killed upon the sea shore by some laboring people of Cape Ann. The account closes with another sighting from Long Island. The folding plate of the baby serpent opens to nearly thirty inches. Pages untrimmed. Handsomely rebound in antique style quarter leather over marbled boards, with spine label. (Inventory #: 40606)
A great rarity, and the primary document relating to the sea serpent of Cape Ann, one of the most widely reported serpent sightings in American maritime history. First seen in Gloucester harbor in 1817, the creature reappeared off the coast in 1818 and 1819. Knowledgeable mariners and shore bound onlookers of all sorts reported sightings. A minister gave a detailed description of the monster, which was reported in Boston papers. The Linnaean Society sent three objective observers to the scene, and this is their report. In the spirit of strict scientific inquiry, it cites about twenty depositions by locals, provides information about a Norwegian sea snake to whom the mysterious serpent might be related, then gives a detailed description of Scoliophis Atlanticus, a baby sea serpent about three feet long, killed upon the sea shore by some laboring people of Cape Ann. The account closes with another sighting from Long Island. The folding plate of the baby serpent opens to nearly thirty inches. Pages untrimmed. Handsomely rebound in antique style quarter leather over marbled boards, with spine label. (Inventory #: 40606)
(978) 283-5299
