The Shell Book Of Sea Chanties – by The Shell Petroleum Company Limited (1952)
The first odd thing about this collection is that it does not have an author. This book is a collection of the sea shanties, printed by concern Shell. Only what we can find, is an editor of the book which is Hereward King. It is indeed an interesting collection. The collection is mentioned by Stan Hugill in his “Shanties From The Seven Seas”, and it has several unique versions of popular shanties. As mentioned previously, the shanties printed in this book (i.e. versions of those sea shanties), you can not find anywhere else.
Of course, the unique versions described may only be of interest, to someone interested in the footnotes and materials mentioned by Stan Hugill. What is also worth mentioning is the spectacular graphics of this book. Each illustration is a work of art and the print quality is second to none. Of course, if you are interested in any of the texts, contact me privately, I would be happy to share.
Do you want to be more involved?
You can find excellent records of sea shanties here. If you want to discuss this book or share your opinion you can do it in my Facebook forum here, or below post in the comment section.
Related to The Shell Book Of Sea Chanties
Clifford Beckett – Shanties And Forebitters (1914)
Frederick Pease Harlow – The making of a sailor (1928)
Frederick Pease Harlow – Chanteying Aboard American Ships (1962)