USS Constellation on the Dismal Coast: Willie Leonard's Journal, 1859-1861

Editorial Method

Editorial Method William A. Leonard’s journal of his cruise on the Constellation was written in an ordinary leather-spined blank book, 12.5 inches tall by 9 inches wide and 2 inches thick. He and others entered poetry, family information, and other material in it for decades afterward, but he bought it originally with the specific plan of recording his experiences aboard a ship of the U.S. Navy. The Constellation journal occupies the first four hundred pages of the book. The book has been kept in the family and is now (2012) in the possession of a direct descendant, Paul Sweeney. Leonard’s occasional remarks directly to the reader make it very clear that he intended his journal to be “published” at least to the extent of being read by friends and family. He saw himself as a reporter, and in that capacity at times made special efforts to seek out and obtain information, as when he lists all the officers of the ship or all of the possible mess bill items. I have edited his work in the firm belief that he would want it to be as accessible and attractive to readers as possible. What follows is Leonard’s “title page” for his journal: Items and Incidents in the cruise of the United States Flag Ship Constellation on the West Coast of Africa in the years 1859, 1860 and 1861 kept by William Ambrose Leonard of Bunker Hill, Charlestown, Mass. June 13th 1859 W.A. Leonard xii Editorial Method My basic approach to editing William Leonard’s journal has been to (1) keep all of his words; (2) modify the spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing in general (though not absolute) accordance with present publishing standards ; (3) add comments and notes helpful to the ordinary twenty-firstcentury reader. My comments are interspersed within the original material to provide the reader as smooth and unified a reading experience as possible. I imagine the reader standing on the Constellation’s deck with Leonard, seeing and hearing what he sees and hears, while I whisper helpful information into the reader’s ear. The only words omitted in this edition of Leonard’s journal are half a dozen words that he accidentally repeated, plus the running headlines at the top of every page, typically reading something like “Cruise of the U S Sloop of War Constellation Flagship of the Africa Squadron 1861.” Because the pagination in this edition differs from that of the manuscript, keeping the headlines as they were would have been very cumbersome and intrusive. Additionally the summary comments for each day that now appear printed at the beginning of a day’s entry have been moved from the margins in the original manuscript. Leonard’s usual punctuation was the comma, or at least marks that look like commas. The present editor has altered the punctuation to make it closer to standard practice, which has involved deciding (among other things) where sentences begin and end. At times a comma has been left where standard practice would not have permitted it, in order to maintain Leonard’s rhythm of thought. Leonard did not paragraph, but the present editor has made many paragraph breaks where appropriate. Leonard was a fairly good speller, but corrections to his spelling have been silently made to bring it more into accord with standard spelling. Like most writers of his day, Leonard was far more generous with capitals than presently would be considered correct. I have revised many capitals to lower case, though some have been retained. Leonard’s geographical names have been retained, as they are the common names of the time. If the modern name is different, it is given in parentheses at the first mention. Thus, for example, modern Luanda is referred to as St. Paul de Loando throughout the book. Monrovia Cape Coast Castle Porto Praya Porto Grande Madeira Cape Verde Islands Prince’s Island St. Thomas Island St. Helena Ascension Anna Bona Island Little Fish Bay Canary Islands Azores St. Paul de Loanda Equator A T L A N T I C O C E A N MEDITERRANEAN SEA Cong o R i v e r 0o 0o 10o 10o 20o 10o 10o 20o 30o 40o Miles 0 1000 African squadron cruising ground St. Paul de Loanda Ambriz Ambrizette Punta da Lenha Loango A T L A N T I C O C E A N Loango Bay Bengo Bay...