Dickensians! discussion

The Wreck of the Golden Mary



Frontispiece by John Dugan

This is the thread to discuss The Wreck of the Golden Mary : Charles Dickens by Charles Dickens, which is our second summer read this year, between 16th June and 9th July.

There are links to all the summaries and author posts written by Petra in comment 3.

***NOTE***

Many editions of The Wreck of the Golden Mary just contain the opening story by Charles Dickens, and perhaps also the continuing and closing stories by Wilkie Collins. All the middle stories, by different Victorian authors are missed out! This is a great shame.

However Petra has searched high and low, and managed to locate the text of all 5 stories! She has placed additional links to these middle stories LINK HERE (comment 215) so that everyone is now able to read the "missing stories" as they were originally meant to be read, and join in.

Now I'll hand you over to Petra, who is hosting this read. If you can let her comment first please, that would be appreciated :)

Thank you, Jean, for starting this thread.

I am new to all of Charles Dickens' short stories and chose this one by it's name alone. I am very much looking forward to reading this alongside all of you.

While searching for interesting information on this story, I found that in its entirety this story was written by a various authors.
The best description of the complete story I could find was this one:
"The Wreck of the 'Golden Mary' was divided into three major sections: 'The Wreck' by Dickens; 'The Beguilement in the Boats' by Percy Fitzgerald, 'Poor Dick's Story' by Harriet Parr, 'The Supercargo's Story' by Percy Fitzgerald, 'The Old Seaman's Story' by Adelaide Anne Procter, 'The Scotch Boy's Story' by the Rev. James White; and a final section, 'The Deliverance,' by Wilkie Collins."

Dickens' preoccupations at the time of writing this story were many: he was more than half-way through writing Little Dorrit, running Household Words, overseeing building works at his newly-acquired house at Gad's Hill, dealing with the management of the drainage and gas supply to Miss Coutts's refuge for homeless women at Urania Cottage, and rehearsing and overseeing the preparations for his production of The Frozen Deep at Tavistock House, just starting its dress-rehearsals.
In consequence of his being so pressed for time, this story was largely the product of Dickens's collaborators, notably Wilkie Collins, who provided most John Steadiman's testamentary document, as well as the seventh and final part.

Today, most versions of the story contain only Dickens and Collins' portions. This is the story contained in my version, which is in The Complete Short Stories of Charles Dickens: 190+ Titles in One Volume (Illustrated Edition): Christmas Tales, Social Sketches & Children's Stories: ... Pearl-Fishing, Child's Dream of a Star….
I look forward to hearing of the other sections, should any of us be reading those.

The complete story was first published in the Christmas 1856 edition of Household Words, a weekly magazine published every Saturday by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. The magazine got it’s name from a quote out of Shakespeare’s Henry V: “Familiar in his mouth as household words”.


On-line sources of the text:
Project Gutenburg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1465

Let me say again how much I'm looking forward to our discussion of The Wreck of the Golden Mary.

The full story, including The Beguilement of the Boats, are in the book copy with the ISBN 10: 1907947973.

Links leading to the various discussion points of this story:

The Wreck:
Captain Ravender's Account by Charles Dickens (Comment 40)

John Steadiman's Account by Wilkie Collins (Comments 96 and 130)

**NOTE: Post 215 contains links to each of the 5 stories below
The Beguilement of the Boat:
The Armourer by Percy Fitzgerald (Comments 180 & 178)

Poor Dick's Story by Harriet Parr (Comments 208 & 207)

The Supercargo's Story by Percy Fitzgerald (Comments 248 & 178)

The Old Seaman's Story by Adelaide Anne Proctor (Comments 269 & 268)

The Scotch Boy's Story by Reverend James White (Comments 311 & 310)

Deliverance:
Deliverance by Wilkie Collins (Comments 137 & 130)

Wow - what a fantastic intro Petra! I'm excited too :) Plus I'm intrigued by your reserved slots ... are you going to timetable these individual stories for us, perhaps, or something else? (Or just keeping them up your sleeve? :) )

If you like, I can link the start of the read proper (June 16th) to comment 1.

Thank you, Jean.
Yes, if you could link the start of the discussion into Link 1 on June 16th, please. That would be helpful for all.

LOL....nothing so mysterious. I haven't led a group read here before and don't know what will be needed. The reserved spots are "just in case".
I do have a synopsis of the story, which I will post closer or on the 16th and a discussion point or two. :D

I'm still looking for some of the individual stories, now that I know they exist, but I haven't found them yet. I have only Dickens' and Collins' contributions. I must say that they make a complete story, so I'm happy for that.

It's a shame that the copy here on Goodreads seems to be a short book with only Dickens' segment in it. The reviews leave me to think that people were disappointed in this story, which is sad. I found it quite interesting but I have a more complete version, which I'm sure helped.

Will do :) And it's always a good idea to reserve a few slots, isn't it.

If you find a preferred edition for our group shelves, please link it here and I'll make the correction. This one LINK HERE says it includes "John Steadiman's Account", but the page count doesn't seem any longer, so it's a bit confusing :(

Thanks for the full title of the book you have, Petra. I couldn’t find this in The Sketches of Boz so I just got this for kindle with a functional table of contents. I may delete the Boz since both are so big.

Jean and Sue, my copy also has only the Captain's and John Steadiman's accounts, included his rendition of the conclusion of the story (3 parts in total).

If I find more accounts (which I'd like to read for a fuller perspective of the views of events), I will post it here.

Thanks. I haven’t checked my new copy yet but will now.

Thank you Petra!

I started reading the story last night and am enjoying it, Petra. I had to look around to find all three parts so I'll share what I found.

The Wreck of the Golden Mary: Being the Captain's Account of the Loss of the Ship, and the Mate's Account of the Great Deliverance of Her People in an ... Number of Household Words, Christmas, 1856. contains all three parts of the story. Look for this entire title to get all three parts of the story. Kindle $6.99, Nook $7.99

The first part, "The Wreck," is the work written mostly by Dickens and a little by Collins in the end (the accounts by the Captain and John Steadiman, the first mate, that can be found free on Project Gutenberg).
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1465

The second part, "The Beguilement in the Boats," by various authors, are stories told by the people in the lifeboats. It is in the Household Words archive website free, in the 1856 Christmas edition, but it's not easy to access. Pages 595-611 for printing the second part. You may be able to get the whole story there too. It has options for printing or kindle, but things are not in an ideal form. This will bring you to the second part:
https://archive.org/details/household...
This will bring you to the start of the complete book:
https://archive.org/details/household...

The third part, "The Deliverance," is free on the Wilkie Collins website. It is narrated by the first mate a few years after the wreck and tells the outcome.
https://jhrusk.github.io/wc/deliveran...

Thank you, Connie!

I also found that edition but it's only available as Kindle. Boo! I have a Kobo, which doesn't take Kindle versions.
I have trouble reading on-line but perhaps others will be able to take advantage of the Household Words edition. It's wonderful and is shown as published originally, I believe. This is how the original readers would have had the story presented to them.

I found this paperback edition on Amazon ($5.99): https://www.amazon.com/Wreck-Golden-M...
It supposedly has all three sections. It's ISBN is 10: 1907947973 (just in case it can be found elsewhere).

I ordered a copy and will update once its here to confirm that it has all the sections.

Ok so there are 3 stories to ready. Good to know!

Petra wrote: "Thank you, Connie!

I also found that edition but it's only available as Kindle. Boo! I have a Kobo, which doesn't take Kindle versions.
I have trouble reading on-line but perhaps others will be a..."

I also don't have a Kindle. I have a good monthly deal with hp ink so I just print up short stories when I can get them online. I was able to print the old Household Words pages for the second part. It felt like seeing part of history since the pages have a weathered tan background.

The kindle book I bought (for 99 cents) seems to have three sections. The first has no listed author so I assume it is Dickens contribution as the rest of this book is his. The second is John Steadiman’s account. The third section is titled Deliverance. I’m hoping that’s enough to get me the basic story.

Connie, I haven't heard of HP Ink. I'll have to search it out, just for fun. It would be fun reading this story as the original readers did.

Sue, you have the same format and length of story that I have. I enjoyed the story.......but it has peaked my interest in the missing stories. I guess I'm a completist. LOL.

Thanks Petra. Not sure if I’ll seek out the others.

For U.S. readers, I found a copy of this story on Hoopla, which is a library supported app. It is 43 pages, but doesn't give a table of contents. I will start with this version and see how it compares.

Diane, it's great that you're reading this with us. I think any edition is good.
My reservations are because of the reviews here on GR. People seem disappointed in the version that contains only Dickens' contribution to the tale. It's disappointing that people are disappointed in Dickens' wonderful writing for editorial reasons.

An interesting write-up on the thoughts on the process of writing and publishing this story.
(from: https://www.djo.org.uk/indexes/magazi... )
I believe that "number" and "No" refers to either the story itself or the Christmas edition of Household Words magazine.


Dickens conceived the idea for The Wreck of the 'Golden Mary' before writing the Christmas number for 1855, but felt he needed more time to develop the idea properly and so postponed the story for a year. The Wreck of the 'Golden Mary' is far and away the best conceived and most cunningly integrated of the Christmas stories written to this date. Dickens himself felt that this was true. In a letter to Angela Burdett-Coutts dated 9 December 1856, he called The Wreck of the 'Golden Mary' 'the prettiest Christmas No we have had.' The subject of the number - a first-person account of a shipwreck, a terrible ordeal at sea in open boats, and finally a rescue - was one which Dickens was superbly equipped to render, involving as it did a kind of lore that had enthralled him and that he had continued to pursue from his earliest reading days.

The Wreck of the 'Golden Mary' was divided into three major sections:
1. 'The Wreck' by Dickens (with a concluding segment by Wilkie Collins);
2. 'The Beguilement in the Boats' - a section composed of 'The Armourer's Story' by Percy Fitzgerald, 'Poor Dick's Story' by Harriet Parr ('Holme Lee'), 'The Supercargo's Story' by Percy Fitzgerald, 'The Old Seaman's Story' by Adelaide Anne Procter, and 'The Scotch Boy's Story' by the Rev. James White;
3. 'The Deliverance,' by Wilkie Collins.

For the first time, the storytelling interlude grew naturally out of what came before and what went after, and formed a subordinate and yet functional part of the whole.
Dickens had seen to this himself. 'I find,' he wrote to Wills on 13 November 1856, 'the Narrative too strong (speaking as a reader of it, not as its writer) to be broken by the stories. I have therefore devised with Collins for getting the stories in between his Narrative and mine, and breaking neither.' And then he added, 'I never wrote anything more easily, or I think with greater interest and stronger belief.'

Earlier, on 1 November 1856, he had written to Collins and suggested they 'walk through the fallen leaves in Cobham Park.' 'I can then explain,' he continued, 'how I think you can get your division of the Christmas No. very originally and naturally. It came into my head to-day.'
Later, in a letter to Angela Burdett-Coutts (9 December 1856) he praised Collins for the way in which he 'got over the great difficulty of falling into my idea.' 'When [Collins] read the Wreck he was so desperately afraid of the job, that I began to mistrust him. However, we went down to Gad's Hill and walked through Cobham Woods, to talk it over; and he then went at it cheerfully, and came out as you see.'

As usual, Dickens also gave attention to the link passages throughout the Christmas number, especially to the introductions, conclusions, and bridges which surrounded the stories in 'The Beguilement in the Boats.' Collins may have written some of the introductory paragraphs (not included below) in 'Poor Dick's Story' and 'The Scotch Boy's Story,' linking the storytellers with the framework, but the rest of the material is almost certainly by Dickens, and in one important instance there is corroboration of this fact.
The Rev. R. H. Davies had written to Dickens asking about the poem which concludes 'Poor Dick's Story,' and Dickens had replied (24 December 1856) that 'I am myself the writer you refer to.' The poem (given the title 'A Child's Hymn') has been included in editions of the Collected Works, but the passage in which Dickens embedded it, and the introduction in which he anticipated it, have not.

The only other portion of the Christmas number included in editions of the Collected Works is 'The Wreck.' 'The Wreck' is by Dickens, but its concluding segment, entitled 'All that follows, was written by John Steadiman, Chief Mate,' is by Collins. However, the final paragraph of this segment (which introduces the storytelling section, 'The Beguilement') is probably by Dickens. Ironically, though editions of the Collected Works include the seg-ment by Collins and attribute it to Dickens, they omit the final paragraph by Dickens.

Dickens probably wrote the following hitherto unidentified and uncollected passages of The Wreck of the 'Golden Mary': the concluding paragraph of 'The Wreck'; the opening paragraph of 'The Armourer's Story'; the introduction to 'Poor Dick's Story'; the conclusion to 'Poor Dick's Story'; the introductory sentence to 'The Supercargo's Story'; the introductory sentence to 'The Old Seaman's Story'; the opening paragraph after the rescue (the first paragraph after the typographical break in 'The Deliverance').

What terrific info, Petra. The story I am hosting is a similar situation, a Christmas No. in Household Words that was contributed to by several writers, but primarily Dickens and Collins. I find it so very interesting that they wrote in this way. I would have thought it more natural for each to have submitted his own complete works for inclusion in the magazine. Dickens was a very hands-on editor.

Exciting to have Dickens on thoughts by way of his letters. Think what we have potentially lost, having letter writing become a thing of the past! We have so much more insight into this era via correspondence.

I think I found the full Wreck of the Golden Mary, at
https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.ph...

It includes all three parts and is available for download in several formats, including PDF. I downloaded the .mobi version and loaded it to my kindle.

Sara, it's really wonderful to see how invested Dickens is in his stories & writing, even when the work is a collaboration and he has his hands full with happenings in his personal life. He never lost sight of his stories, no matter what.

I kind of chuckled a bit where it says that he was beginning to distrust Wilkie Collins for being a bit uncertain about blending the various stories into one cohesive work. The situation could have gone a number of ways but Dickens took Collins under his wing and explained it to him. A situation very much like a senior guy training the newbie. With the good training from Dickens, Collins could put his hand to this task and we have this wonderful tale.
This kind of training & awareness never leaves a person. Therefore, perhaps, some of Collins' wonderful books are with us because of the camaraderie and mentorship of Dickens.
This story shows Dickens to be a warm, caring, sensitive man who could share his talents and knowledge to help make others stronger than they began. That's a wonderful trait.

Kathleen, that's a terrific link and I hope some of us take advantage of it. Thank you.
Let us know if the additional stories are included. I'm very curious now to read the missing stories and see what they add to an already deep and interesting tale.

Petra wrote: "Sara, it's really wonderful to see how invested Dickens is in his stories & writing, even when the work is a collaboration and he has his hands full with happenings in his personal life. He never l..."

So true. I have often wondered if Collins would have been a mediocre writer if he had not had the friendship and tutelage of Dickens. He really helped a lot of writers to further their careers, and that is, indeed, a very unselfish trait that isn't seen that often.

Thank you for the link, Kathleen. I have bookmarked the source for future use. Never know when you might need it.

I read the original version, with the stories inserted. I think the stories are all terrific, if read alone, but placed within this framework, they acted as more of an interruption. I was deeply immersed in the story of the Wreck and found myself almost resentful of being forced outside that story into another. I think it is wise to read this the way you have, Petra, and pick up the stories after you have finished the main tale.

Sara, I'm glad you enjoyed the stories. I am hoping to be able to read them before we start our discussion. With luck, the copy I ordered that includes the stories will be here in a couple of days. Fingers crossed. It's a shame that they distracted from the story.

I got immersed in the story of the wreck, too. It's a delight.

I read "The Wreck" and "The Deliverance" together to keep the momentum going, and now have started the stories in the middle. I'm amazed that at least those two parts are not always published together. Dickens and Collins made a great writing team for this exciting tale!

Are you thinking of dividing the discussion up Petra?

I know it's tricky though, as we may all have different parts! We begin on Wednesday, so if you like you could timetable the different stories, even if we don't have access to them all. There's plenty of time, within the three weeks we have on it :)

I was thinking of concentrating on one section at a time of the three common elements: The Wreck, John Steadiman's Account and The Deliverance. Then going back to look over the stories, as they seem to be the ones that not all of us have access to, if the book on it's way to me has the stories in it (fingers crossed).

I'll post a summary of The Wreck for early Wednesday morning to kick off the discussion. It's hubby's birthday, so I'll probably post late Tuesday and be a bit late on Wednesday morning in joining in. Happy Birthday wishes and breakfast are on the agenda. :D
I'm all in for the discussion on Wednesday, though, just a small bit of a possible later start.

That sounds fantastic!

And please celebrate properly, Petra. You've done us proud already, so this is not top on your agenda for Wednesday! :D Good idea to post the summary on your Tuesday, to start us all off. For antipodeans (do we have any?) it will be Wednesday then anyway :)

Antipodean here :)

YAY Janelle! Sorry, you probably often have to translate things ... so our "Summer Reads" are your "Winter Reads" :(

(And apologies to Petra for temporarily diverting this thread.)

No apologies needed, Jean. It's always interesting to learn more about where we all are. One thing I really like about the internet is how it brings us together, no matter where we live.

My new copy of this story (ISBN is 10: 1907947973) came today and I'm happy to say that it contains the 5 missing stories!

I've read the first one and it's so well told and written. I'm looking forward to the rest and then discussing them here with you all.

Looking quickly through the booklet, I noticed that the link paragraphs that are spoken of in the quote above (post 23) are in here but were not in my original version. That includes a final paragraph in The Wreck, which leads to John Steadiman's Account.
I'll remember to post these paragraphs when we get to those sections.

Fantastic! Thank you so much for doing all this work to help us, Petra :)

This story is told in sections. I'll provide a summary of each section at the beginning of our discussion of it.

The Wreck: Captain Ravender's Acount
Written by Charles Dickens
Published in the Christmas Edition of Household Words in 1856

Captain William George Ravender, 56 years of age, born six months after his father drowned, is a self educated man and of good character. He is a single man; his fiancé passed away six weeks before the wedding.

The gold rush has started in California while William Ravender, was at sea in the West Indies and is in full swing. There is talk of gold throughout London. After arriving home, William is ill with fever and its a year before he is strong enough to contemplate another voyage.

In 1851, Captain Ravender is offered a commission on the Golden Mary to sail to California to deliver gold mining tools and bring back goods. He agrees to do this if John Steadiman, a man he trusts, can be obtained as Chief Mate. After a search, they find John, who agrees to sail with William.

The Golden Mary takes on 20 passengers and 18 crew, plus William & John. The ship sets sail on March 7, 1851.

There are 3 passengers of interest:
- Mrs. Atherfield (approx. 25) & her child, Lucy (3), going to join her husband, the child’s father. The child has never seen her father.
- Miss Coleshaw (approx. 30), going to join her brother
- Mr. Rarx, an older, hawk like gentleman, always talks about gold mining, gold, gold collecting. He keeps his reasons for travelling to California to himself

The two women and Lucy are taken under the wing of William’s protection. Mr Rarx is an unlikeable fellow but he has an interest in Lucy and likes her in his sight.

Lucy is a favourite of everyone on board and is nicknamed Golden Lucy by the crew. She’s a joyful, friendly child and all the crew & passengers fall in love with her. Mr. Rarx likes having Lucy in his sights. She regards the Golden Mary as a playmate, dressing it up, like a doll with ribbons and talking with it. Golden Lucy & Golden Mary; a pair of friends.

Captain Ravender’s aside:
The Golden Mary has 3 lifeboats to hold a total of 50. (Long-boat = 25; Cutter = 15; Surf-boat = 10)

The voyage is calm for sixty days, after which the ship is surrounded by icebergs and that the nights are exceptionally dark, so much so that it seems like a curtain.

In the afternoon of the 6th day of icebergs, they move past the icebergs into open waters again but the total darkness continues ominously. William and John keep watch all night, every night. The night is so dark that William doesn’t feel safe leaving the deck.
The following morning, they are at Latitude 58 South, Longitude 60 West, off New South Shetland (Cape Horn area).

The following night is again dark. William is exhausted, being sleep deprived as he is not sleeping much during the daytime and has been keeping watch at night. At 12:55am, John finally convinces William to go to his cabin and get some rest. He goes to bed “all standing”, just taking off his shoes. He dreams of being back home, trying desperately to get around the Church, which is cloven down the steeple and changed in shape, but he could not get around it.

He is then shocked awake with a jolt that throws him out of his bed. Shrieks are heard, a crashing sound and the sound of rushing water. He hurries onto a leaning deck.

William takes it all in immediately: the leaning ship, passengers coming on deck, the masts, the danger. All hands are on deck. They light lanterns and see the cloven iceberg that hit them; cloven like the Church in William’s dream.

The ship is filling with water and going down. The Surf and Long lifeboats are lowered. William directs John to bring up all passengers and stock the boats with supplies. Time is short.

Passengers and crew are divided into the lifeboats. John Steadiman takes command of the surf boat; Captain Ravender of the Long-boat. The time is 2:10am. The rowers push off. Just as the life boats are inches outside the vortex of the ship’s sinking, the Golden Mary goes down. The lanterns go out and all is blackness.

The boats are low in the water being overloaded by “at least” 6 people. William keeps Mrs. Atherfield, Lucy and Miss Coleshaw near him and Mr. Rarx as far away as possible. Provisions are inventoried and split between the two boats. What follows are days of cold, rain (which is collected to supplement drinking water) and strict rations. The two boats maintain visual contact. When one disappears over the horizon, all watch anxiously until it reappears. Those onboard are uncomplaining. The group rallies together. Mrs. Atherfield is found to have a lovely singing voice and, at the group’s request, sings to them each sunset.

Twelve nights (11 days) go by. Lucy’s health has been declining and Mr. Rarx becomes delirious, starting to rant about gold that needs to be thrown overboard. Lucy quietly and peacefully passes away. Mr. Rarx tears at his clothing and rants that had the gold been thrown overboard, the child would have been saved and now all is lost. All through the night, Miss Coleshaw comforts Mrs. Atherfied as she holds Lucy. In the morning, Lucy is buried at sea. All are despondent.

Rations continue to dwindle. Everyone is hungry; strength continues to diminish. Captain Ravender begins to think that the passengers & crew may be starting to think about cannibalism if the food supply was gone and concerned about the possibility of it onboard. He thinks of a way to hopefully relieve this fear and, in the process, unite the group as one. He tells the group the story of Captain Bligh and his group of survivors who were also shipwrecked in a boat with few supplies. They survived and did not resort to cannibalism, choosing instead to stand together as a united group through their ordeal. William sees a look of relief on the faces of the group and feels he has put the fear of possible cannibalism to rest for everyone and united the group in solidarity.

He also mentions that on Bligh’s boat, someone would tell a story when the group was most despondent. It is decided to tell a story 2 hours after dinner each day. Dinner is at 1pm, the story two hours later and Mrs. Atherfield sings at sunset. The group is works together through their ordeal each day.

The boats are plagued by bad weather and heavy winds. Each day Captain Ravender gives an update to the group on their approx. location. Mr. Rarx continues to rant about his gold. Soon, the food is gone, leaving only an occasional coffee bean for each person. The people are getting weak. Even Mr. Rarx has gone quiet.

Twenty seven nights pass. There is only rainwater left. The group remains supportive of Captain Ravender and look to him for guidance. The group remains strong in their unity to each other.

Captain Ravender begins to hallucinate. He sees:
- Golden Lucy in the air above the boat or sitting beside him
- the Golden Mary go down, 20 times a day
- the sea looking like country and mountainous regions (land), not water

William tries to write down his final words to John Steadiman but he’s too weak to write. He feels the hands of she laying him to rest in the bottom of the boat, then she and Golden Lucy rocking him to sleep.

Dickens knows how to set the tone for a terrifying, gothic story of survival and despair. This story pulled me in right away.
I am looking forward to our discussion.

Excellent summary, thanks Petra!

It is now linked to the first comment, so we can all find it easily.

I really enjoyed this and particularly like the authenticity of the Captain's voice.

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth: a city on Portsea Island in Hampshire, on the south coast of England, famous for its maritime heritage. Although he moved at the age of 3, he often revisited Portsmouth, and remained fascinated with the sea. It is present in nearly all his writings, either literally or metaphorically.

Was anyone else reminded of Captain Ned Cuttle (from Dombey and Son here)? The garrulousness of the old seafarer, but also as a down to earth, dependable, practical character? I think Captain Cuttle might have looked up to Captain Ravender, and been proud to call him a friend :)

I also loved the tone. Everything is larger than life: everything at the beginning is the best - whether the ship or the people. The "Golden Mary" is the smartest ship, so much so that the captain couldn't refuse it. He has chosen the best crew of marvellous hands, and the most sensible passengers (except one, who is a shocking contrast). This lulls us into a happy frame of mind. I was smiling anyway :)

I had mentioned earlier that I found a copy on Hoopla, a library supported app here in the states. Imagine my horror when it was only the account written by Dickens, and left me stranded in the lifeboats with no Deliverance in sight. I had to scramble to find the rest of the account, and found it at the site Kathleen mentioned above.

LOL! Oh good Diane. Glad you're in a nautical frame of mind already.

I loved the description of the Golden Lucy playing. She seemed to represent an innocence and goodness which made it even more devastating when she died:

"She liked to be by the wheel, and in fine weather, I have often stood by the man whose trick it was at the wheel, only to hear her, sitting near my feet, talking to the ship. Never had a child such a doll before, I suppose; but she made a doll of the Golden Mary, and used to dress her up by tying ribbons and little bits of finery to the belaying-pins; and nobody ever moved them, unless it was to save them from being blown away."

I can imagine that 19th Century readers would love to read an adventurous story that has some links to their current news. The California Gold Rush, and the dangerous polar explorations were prominent news items.

Dickens makes sure we know that the Captain and the First Mate are very experienced, and the ship is in wonderful condition. But their voyage was extremely dangerous, even with the best of everything.

I have tried to read this as though I were a 19th century reader, sitting in a comfortable armchair by a fire, reading my periodical containing an adventure story. One thing I have noticed about Dickens and other writers of the period is that they idealized childhood, especially girls. The "innocence and goodness"" that Connie mentions.

Bionic Jean wrote: "Excellent summary, thanks Petra!

It is now linked to the first comment, so we can all find it easily."

Thank you, Jean. The links will be especially handy for this story, with it's many parts.

Bionic Jean wrote: "I really enjoyed this and particularly like the authenticity of the Captain's voice.

Was anyone else reminded of Captain Ned Cuttle (from Dombey and Son here)? The garrulousness of the old seafarer, but also as a down to earth, dependable, practical character? I think Captain Cuttle might have looked up to Captain Ravender, and been proud to call him a friend :)

Dickens was an interesting character. He took such deep interest in so many things and the sea was one of them.
I didn't make a direct connection to Captain Cuttle. I should have. The two captains would certainly have been good friends.
I did, though, see that Dickens gave this story a grounding in the Captain, the ship, the crew. It's a powerful start for a voyage.

Diane wrote: "I had mentioned earlier that I found a copy on Hoopla, a library supported app here in the states. Imagine my horror when it was only the account written by Dickens, and left me stranded in the lif..."

Diane, I'm glad you found the rest of the story.
From the reviews here on GR, I think your original copy is common, which is a shame. There are those who believe that Captain Ravender's account is the whole story, which would be rather confusing and disappointing.

Connie wrote: "I loved the description of the Golden Lucy playing. She seemed to represent an innocence and goodness which made it even more devastating when she died: ..."

Oh, I was devastated when she died. She was a bright light on the ship. She gave so much happiness to everyone on board, like a shining light for all.

I really liked the passage you quoted. It gave such a fun view of the happiness on the ship that Lucy caused.

Connie wrote: "I can imagine that 19th Century readers would love to read an adventurous story that has some links to their current news. The California Gold Rush, and the dangerous polar explorations were promin..."

Connie, when I read a book set in times of exploration, it always occurs to me that these people were so brave. There was always a big chance that they wouldn't make it to their destination. Explorers, emigrants, all who found themselves on a ship at sea were in a precarious situation for the duration.
There's a bravery there that I wonder if I have. If more people were like me, perhaps mankind wouldn't have discovered North America even today. LOL.