No. 1: Cabin Boy 1799

Henri Merke made this print, titled "Cabin Boy", in London in 1799. It presents a seemingly straightforward image of a young worker on a ship. However, the print also offers a glimpse into the complex social hierarchies of maritime life in the 18th century. Cabin boys, often young and inexperienced, performed menial tasks and were at the bottom of the ship's social hierarchy. The print's level of detail – from the boy's somewhat worn clothing to the tools of his trade – suggests a desire to document and perhaps even romanticize the lives of these often-overlooked members of society. The presence of the publisher's name, R. Ackermann, indicates the growing commercialization of art and the expanding market for images of everyday life. To fully understand this print, we can turn to archival sources such as maritime records, sailors' journals, and period literature. These resources provide a more complete picture of the cabin boy's world, giving us a much richer understanding of the social context that shaped the artwork.