Odysseas, a ship from Ithaca, 1837-1841

Yiannis St. Vlassopoulos, Odysseas, a ship from Ithaca, 1837-1841, (in Greek), Melissa Books, Athens 1992 ISBN 960-204-009-2.

Odysseas is the logbook of a commercial cargo ship written, with unusually rich details, one hundred and fifty years ago by the captain of a brigantine from the island of Ithaca. This rare example of a logbook was found in the island’s archive. The editor, Yiannis Vlassopoulos, successfully managed to read and copy the difficult text and presents it here with full detail. The ship’s captain, Antonios Petalas-Maratos, conscientiously entered into the official log (provided by the island’s port authorities) all events that happened on his ship and her surroundings. The details of his entries make reading the book a fascinating experience.

During the travels of the ship from Ithaca in the Ionian Sea to the Crimea, the Sea of Azov, and the inhospitable shores of the Caucasus on the Black Sea, the captain presents, in his own nautical dialect, every detail of the trips–the problems with the weather and the crew, the commercial dealings, and the obscure military operations that his ship was forced to participate in.

 

 

375 pages, 35 B&W 7 color photographs,
sketches, 30 charts, book size 24 x 17 cm.