E.L.L.K. poems and journal

This volume chronicles four voyages made by the Brig Romance between Baltimore, Maryland, and Navassa Island in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The creator, identified as “E.L.L.K.” (possibly Louis King), wrote the entire volume in poetic verse.

The poems are all entitled “Outward Bound” and “Homeward Bound,” reflecting the creator’s journeys to and from Navassa Island. Most of the poems were written in stanzas of rhyming couplets. Several of the poems contain brief interludes, including verse about a sailor losing his pants and a prayer of thanks for making it safely through a storm.

The Brig Romance appears to have carried both passengers and freight. The author described white passengers staying in the ship’s cabin while black passengers were forced to travel in the hold below. The ship transported mail to and from Navassa and appears to have been engaged in the fertilizer trade, collecting guano to bring back to Baltimore.

Following the verses related to the voyages, there is a poem addressed “To my dear sister” written in black ink by a different hand. This poem was signed “N.P.”

This volume is bound in green leather over boards with extensive gilt-tooled decoration on the front cover and spine. The word “ALBUM” appears in gilt lettering on both the front cover and spine. There is also tooled decoration on the back cover, but no gilding. The edges of the leaves are also gilded. The volume contains brown paper pastedowns and flyleaves. There is an engraved frontispiece of a woman in a woodland setting. The title page reads “GEM ALBUM” in blue print with a gold border. Above the title is the inscription “K., E.L.L.” in pencil. The volume contains ninety-seven leaves of unlined, light blue paper, seven engraved plates depicting women and children, and seven leaves of tissue paper. It contains handwritten text primarily in blue and red ink. Approximately half of the leaves are blank.