Captain Abby and Captain John: An around-the-world biography

by Robert Peter Tristram Coffin

Book Overview

Pulitzer Prize winner Robert P T Coffin tells the story of a husband and wife and their seagoing careers in the mid-1800's, sailing out of Brunswick, Maine. The book is constructed from their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0008AP3Y0
• Release Date: January 1939
• Publisher: Macmillan Company
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Housekeeping on the High Seas

Robert P. Tristram Coffin won a Pulitzer Prize for a collection of poetry in 1936. He's not a household name, probably because his style is somewhat outdated (it's gay and buoyant, rather than dark and cynical like that of many of his his pre-War contemporaries). His idealized view of the human condition is no more apparent than in "Captain Abby and Captain John," which brings to light the diaries, letters, journals, and logbooks of a Maine seafaring couple, John and Abby Pennell. John D. Pennell was the youngest member of a Brunswick, Maine shipbuilding family, whose heyday was the age of sail in the mid-19th century. Rather than building ships, however, Pennell worked his way up to sea captain, and like a number of other ships' captains of that time period, he encouraged his devoted wife Abby (and later sons Freddie and Arthur) to join him on his voyages. Abby's diaries, and John's logbooks comprise a good portion of this book. A lot of the book, therefore, tends to read somewhat tedious ("They discharged their coal into lighters. It was slow business. They finished taking in ballast, August 16."). This humdrum of sailing particulars is peppered by Coffin's homespun sentimentality and his thoughts on what it might be like to be a Yankee sailing wife (the word "Yankee" is sprinkled liberally throughout the book, though it's used lovingly rather than derisively). Coffin's sort of a New England Garrison Keillor without the impish humor, but with a heavy dose of Victorian-era romanticism. He frequently inserts himself into the narrative, describing his own boyhood days in Brunswick, and his impressions of living in a coastal home built by one of the Pennell brothers. Coffin rarely ventures beyond the cozy confines of "Pennellville" (where everyone seems to be related), or the two captains' study and sleeping quarters (there's no scurvy, beatings, whippings, or mutinies, and the most memorable shipboard incident is a teenage boy who fell to his death in the cold north Atlantic). But it's refreshing to read a book about New Englanders, by a native New Englander, that glows with such kinship and warmth. Though modern sensibilites might consider Coffin's style, shall we say, "cornball"... his book is a nice antidote to the cynicism and hostility of 21st century America. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't cringe at quaintness, and who might want to take a peek into a nook of bygone Americana.

Captain Abby and Captain John

Coffin's writing style may seem a bit old-fashioned--knowing he is primarily a poet explains his prose style. He had exclusive access to the Pennell letters and diaries (which have disappeared, inexplicably, making this book even more valuable) and it is those sources he draws from to write the most compelling, and even heart-rending, passages in the book. He does not exaggerate; he almost adopts their Yankee reticence when describing adventures few Americans of their time even dreamed of living. An invaluable piece of American history.