Look Lively There For A Sale With A Maritime Flavour At Peter Wilson, Nantwich

Illustrated sailors' logs and hundreds of photographs of tall ships

A collection of ships' logs, some illustrated with drawings and watercolour sketches, and hundreds of photographs of tall ships bring a fascinating maritime flavour to a sale of antiques, fine art and collectors' items at Peter Wilson auctioneers. They will be sold on February 15 and 16 at the saleroom's Victoria Gallery in the town's Market Street.

Said specialist Chris Large: "The logs are one man's collection. What makes them so interesting is the meticulous records kept on voyages, some lasting two or three years, the most notable of which was compiled by a Herbert Edward Leadam. He embarked at London on the ship 'Zealandia' of Greenock on July 29 1859, arriving at Port Cooper, Canterbury, New Zealand on November 14,1859. Then, having spent 20 years in New Zealand, he sailed on the same ship from Port Nicholson, arriving back in London at the East India Dock on March 6, 1879."

The log in Peter Wilson's sale charts the return voyage via Cape Horn, commencing on December 12, 1878 and ending with the ship berthing back home. Leadam was formerly a ship's officer and was probably trained as a midshipman to sketch what he saw on voyages for later research by the Admiralty. As a result, the log contains watercolour and pen and ink illustrations of coastal views, among them the islands of Diego Ramirez off Chile on the approach to Cape Horn in the Pacific and Trinidade in the southern Atlantic.

Other, illustrations show some of the tall ships encountered during the voyage, as well as meticulously drawn and painted, almost scientific, watercolours of a magnetic compass, course charts, and loose illustrations of compasses, all painted on card. Elsewhere, the handwritten pages contain detailed technical and navigational data, particulars of the usual daily nautical data and the occasional interesting mention of incidents during the voyage. The log is estimated at £400-600.

Two log books from the barque Wychwood of Sunderland contain details of a voyage from Hamburg to Melbourne, Australia, and back to Falmouth, from September 7, 1906 to February 7 1908, and a second a voyage from Port Talbot to Arica, Peru, and back to Hamburg, from November 5, 1909 to December 5, 1910. The logs are accompanied by two black and white photographs of the Wychwood and are estimated together at £300-500

A journal of the barque Eleanor details a voyage from London to Hong Kong and then on to New York, beginning January 15, 1869 and ending January 13, 1871, kept by Frederic R. Wootten, the rear of the book containing a log showing the expenditure paid for goods and wages during the journey. It is estimated at £200-300.

A journal recording the "Proceedings of the Honourable Company's Ship Buckinghamshire" details the tea clipper's voyage from the Thames to Whampoa Reach, 10 miles from Canton up the Pearl River and back. The voyage was from July 27, 1823 to June 27, 1824, and the log was kept by, 2nd mate Alexander Bell. (estimate: £300-500).

A journal and weather register for the ship Genie or Gemini covering the voyage from Cardiff to Rio de Janeiro, then on to Diamond Island on the East coast of Tasmania, India, and back to Liverpool, between August 1873 and July 1875, kept by Chas Marples is estimated at £100-200, as are others for the German ship under the command of Captain J. Kock; a navigational log of the frigate Aricifie, which runs from September 16, 1844 to August 30,1846 and a log book for the John Ema, covering a voyage from Norfolk to San Francisco and then Philadelphia, commencing October 1908 and running to May 1910.

Elsewhere in the maritime section of the two-day sale, almost 600 photographs and postcards of tall ship, many by the Nautical Photo Agency, Suffolk, all contained in individual preservation wallets, will be sold in six lots, each with estimates of £100-200.

Of local interest, a framed black and white photograph of Liverpool's Salthouse Dock dating from June 1897 by Priestly and Sons, Wallasey, the image sized 48cm x 61cm, is estimated at £60-100.

The sale is on view at Peter Wilson's Victoria Gallery, Market Street, Nantwich, on Sunday February 12 from 2-4pm; Monday February 13 from 10am-7pm; Tuesday February14 from 10am-4pm and on the morning of the sales from 9-11am. For further information, please contact auctioneer Chris Large on 01270 623878 or auctions@peterwilson.co.uk.