I really think anyone interested in reading about the Essex should read this little Penguin Classics edition I have. Chase’s narrative and Nickerson’s narrative are both wonderful, and Nathaniel and Thomas Philbrick (or the editors) have also dug up several other interesting documents. Several letters, and the notes Melville made in his edition of the Owen Chase are pretty cool to have.
Especially fun is a tract published in London after Thomas Chappel, one of the sailors who decided to remain on the desert island, returned home. Chappel seems to have got religion on the island, and narrated his story for inclusion in An Account of the Loss of the Essex. It’s highly educational.
The sufferings of these men were great, and their preservation remarkable: such circumstances afford instruction to every one. If you are inclined to say, there is no probability of your being similarly situated, remember that although not placed in a desert island, or in a small boat, destitute of the means of subsistence, yet all are placed in the midst of many and great dangers, as to this life. But it is of infinitely more importance to remember that there is a great and awful danger, namely, of eternal death, to which we are all alike exposed, if ignorant of the Saviour and his salvation. The subject speaks both to seamen and landmen; are you aware of its importance?
Really the best part is just the number of different documents, mostly agreeing, a few inconsistencies. Letters written based on third-hand accounts, apocryphal stories about Nantucket, part of a poem by Melville. The Chase and Nickerson narratives bring you so close to the harrowing story of these men, when you read half-truths about things about them later you feel almost indignant. It’s a good time to read them all though.
[...] The Essex, with its multiple accounts [...]