Prospectus for "The Tramp"
1903.
Bifolium, 8 x 12.5 inches, [4] pp, lithographed handwritten text with hand-colored illustrations on three pages and a b/w illustration on the fourth. Very good, a little soiled, with a later full-height reinforcing paper hinge at the spine, the paper of the hinge itself chipped, but without loss to the original paper or infringement upon the original text.
Shipboard newspapers date at least to the early 19th century, but came into their own on the ships of the California gold rush (examples included titles such as "The Emigrant," "The Petrel," and "The Flying Fish") and, perhaps most famously, on several polar expeditions. In some instances, these ephemeral publications contained useful information about onboard activities and shore leaves; others were more fanciful, existing mainly to combat boredom, maintain morale, and distract from the discomforts of sea travel. They were often short-lived, curtailed not only by the length of the voyage, but by the difficulty of their production. "The Tramp" is a prime example of the genre, handwritten, lithographed, and then nicely embellished with large hand-colored illustrations. It is a prospectus only, "merely an introduction to the first issue," which, we are told, "will appear next Monday. Contributions to the same will be thankfully received" and "copies will be sold by auction." In the pages that follow we are treated to the details of a hotly contested bridge tournament; edified about previously unknown Creatures of the Deep; and informed that a concert has taken place, but "unfortunately the music critic is prejudiced, and we are unable to publish his article." What ship The Tramp was produced on and where it was headed are uncertain, but we do have some clues. A lightly penciled note on the bottom of the first page reads "Sardinia April 1903." The text on page 2 indicates that the ship departed Bombay on April 11th and arrived in Aden on the 17th. A standard route at the time would have been Bombay-Aden-Suez-Sardinia-London, so this may have been a passenger vessel sailing that route. It could also have been the S.S. Sardinia, a troop transport ship used by the British Navy at the end of the Second Boer War. As we have a catalogue to complete, we leave it to the next owner to figure out.
Item #19849
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