The Maritime Bookstore at Mystic Seaport Museum offers one of the nation’s most comprehensive selection of maritime books, including more than 90 of the Museum’s publications, new titles, used books, rare volumes, pictorial books, and magazines. Additionally, the bookstore offers a DVD viewing area, a children’s section, and free wireless Internet.
“I was so impressed with your bookstore. It is the largest and most well stocked maritime bookstore I have seen. I wanted to take home every second book, and I hope I get back again soon for another try.” – Francis Carroll
Bookstore Subjects
Subjects include: Mystic Seaport Museum publications, Adventure, Art, Blacksmithing, Boat Building, Boat Maintenance, Canoe, Coast Guard, Cookbooks, Cooperage, Crafts, Eric Sloane, Expeditions, Figureheads, Ghosts and Haunted, Kayak, Knots, Log Books and Journals, Maritime Calendars, Maritime Fiction, Maritime History, Model Making, Music of the Sea, Nautical Pictorial, Nautical Terminology, Naval History, New England Pictorial, History and Travel, Pirates, Power Boats, Rigging, Rowing and Sculling, Sailing and Sailboats, Scrimshaw, Sea History magazine, Seamanship, Navigation, and Boating, Shipwrecks and Storms, Special Value books, Voyages, Water, Earth and Sky, Whaling, Wood Carving, WoodenBoat magazine (with many back issues available for $1), and more than 200 youth titles.
Popular Sellers
Mystic Seaport Museum: Official Guidebook – With all of the changes that have taken place on Greenmanville Avenue in recent years, it was time to publish a new guidebook that reflects everything that is the Mystic Seaport Museum of today. That book, Mystic Seaport Museum: Official Guidebook (Beckon Books, 145 pages), is now complete and available at the Museum Bookstore.
The book can function as a guide to a visit, but it will probably appeal most as a souvenir or gift as the depth of content goes beyond the basics of a day at the Museum. More than 30 pages have been added to the Guidebook, many of which are dedicated to expanded chapters on the history of the institution, its buildings, and its historic vessels.
There are also chapters on the exhibits, the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard, the many education programs, the daily activities and demonstrations, and the “back-of-house” functions of the Museum, including the G.W. Blunt White Library and the curatorial activities in the Collections Research Center.
The highlight of the book is the photography. Completely re-illustrated with historic images from the collections and stunning contemporary photographs by staff photographers Andy Price and Joe Michael, the book shows the Mystic Seaport Museum grounds at its best.
Christmas Memories Book by Lynn Anderson – An all-time Mystic Seaport Museum bestseller is back in stock, Christmas Memories Book! This 20-year diary has fine calligraphy and drawings by Lynn Anderson. Each year features a pen and ink drawing of a different 19th-century tradition, accompanied by an explanation of the holiday custom featured. Record visitors, special Christmas cards, family photographs, and other memories. 112 pages. 198 illustrations. To order, please call the main store at 860.572.5385 or the bookstore at 860.572.5386. Christmas Memories Book can also be ordered at shop.mysticseaport.org/
Henny and Her Boat: Righteousness and Resistance in Nazi Occupied Denmark by Howard S. Veisz – “Henny and Her Boat” provides a fresh perspective on the Danes’ defense of their Jewish countrymen during years of Nazi occupation and, ultimately, their heroic rescue of the Danish Jews on a fleet of fishing boats and other small craft. Leo Goldberger, a leading expert on the Danish rescue, hails the book as an “educational gem,” which describes the rescue in “riveting detail” by following one participant’s rise from youthful bystander to rescuer to armed resister. Henny Sinding, daughter of a Danish navy officer, teamed with a fledgling resistance group to save three hundred Jews on a lighthouse supply boat named Gerda III. Each night for a month Henny bravely escorted Jews from secret rendezvous points to a dockside warehouse and then slipped them past Nazi sentries into Gerda III’s cargo hold. Gerda III’s crew completed the escape—motoring daily past German warships and mines to unoccupied Sweden. The story of Gerda III — which is on display at Mystic Seaport Museum — and the people associated with it — Henny, Mix, the dashing young resistance fighter whom she loved, and many giants of the Danish resistance — epitomizes the story of a nation that rose from a humbling surrender to battle the Nazis and hand the Gestapo its most glaring defeat.
In Celebration of the Charles W. Morgan
The Charles W. Morgan is the last of an American whaling fleet that numbered more than 2,700 vessels. Built and launched in 1841, the Morgan is America’s oldest commercial ship still afloat and an icon of the nation’s maritime heritage.
The Charles W. Morgan: America’s Last Wooden Whaling Ship – The one-hour documentary film “The Charles W. Morgan,” which was directed by five-time Emmy winner Bailey Pryor and had its broadcast debut on PBS in May 2014, is now available on DVD. The film tells the extraordinary story of America’s last wooden whaleship and the incredible saga of whaling, the first global industry dominated by the United States. Order online.
The Charles W. Morgan – John F. Leavitt’s comprehensive history brings the whaleship to life, and includes crew lists; a summary of voyages and logbooks; historic photographs of the ship, her captains, and their wives (five sailed with their husbands, two as expert navigators); the author’s own detail sketches; a sail plan; a glossary; and an index. Order online.
Whale Hunt – In this narrative Nelson Cole Haley, a harpooner on the Morgan during her third voyage from 1849-1853, provides a feel for what life was like on a whaleship. “This classic true story of a voyage on the Charles W. Morgan is both a wonderful read and an excellent source of information about American whaling in the 19th century,” said Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea. Order online.
Mystic Seaport Publications
L. Francis Herreshoff: Yacht Designer by Roger C. Taylor – This book is the first of two volumes to chronicle the life and work of the most remarkable yacht designer of his time. The author was given access to the L. Francis Herreshoff Collection at Mystic Seaport Museum and brings Herreshoff’s personality to life, with its artistic and scientific genius, prejudices, omniscience, shyness, quiet friendliness, inward pain, and generosity. He presents a gallery of plans and photographs of Herreshoff’s yachts, with expert descriptions and commentary on the details of his designs.
The Strenuous Life of Harry Anderson by Roger Vaughan – A biography of Harry Anderson: sailor, educator, philanthropist, and predominant international yachting ambassador for nearly 70 years. Anderson’s long, active life provides a unique perspective on a fascinating period of American history. Published by Mystic Seaport Museum.
Hours of Operation
Daily 10 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Contact
Phone: 860.572.5386
Email: MSMBookstore@eventnetwork.com
Orders can be made via phone or email and we will ship your book order to you.
Some of the book titles are also available on our web store.
Shop Online
Our online book store features a wide range of categories, including Boating & Recreation, Children’s, Cookbooks, Journals & Logs, Maritime Art, Maritime History, Mystic Seaport Museum Publications, Nautical Reference, and Rosenfeld.
