New Book “Messages from the Sea” collects vintage messages found washed up in bottles around the world
Messages from the Sea: Letters and Notes from a Lost Era Found in Bottles and on Beaches Around the World.
“The lost and found language of Messages from the Sea. Superb!” – Ian McMillan
In July 1896, a message in a bottle was found on the shore at Hoylake, Merseyside. The message was signed by a seaman named Young of the White Star Liner Naronic, and it read: “Struck iceberg. Sinking fast in cold ocean.” The Naronic had left Liverpool for New York on 11 February 1893, with 74 people on board. It was never seen again, but this message provides a chilling clue to its mysterious disappearance.
The message is one of 100 included in new book Messages from the Sea, which collects vintage messages in bottles found washed up on shores around the world. Dating from the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the messages tell of foundering ships, missing ocean liners and shipwrecked sailors, and contain moving farewells, romantic declarations and intriguing confessions. Included among the messages in the book are a murder confession found off the White Cliffs of Dover, an update from Sir John Franklin’s lost Arctic expedition, and a message from the deck of the sinking Titanic.
The book was compiled by Paul Brown, from Seaham, County Durham. He says: “I first stumbled upon these messages by accident, but quickly became fascinated by them. Each little message tells a different story, and they’re full of drama, mystery and romance. Many of the messages are incredibly moving, and they really do highlight the brave, lonely and fragile nature of life at sea.”
Messages from the Sea: Letters and Notes from a Lost Era Found in Bottles and on Beaches Around the World is published by Superelastic Books on 19 September 2016, and is available from Amazon priced £10 for paperback and £5 for eBook.
