Bill of Lading.for Good Ship Ringleader. , 7" x 9 3/4" , Glidden & Williams California Packets.  Illustrated with vessel under sail .1861. 
Glidden & Williams is described in Samuel Eliot Morison's "Maritime History of Massachusetts" as the most important clipper firm operating out of Boston to California . The clipper ship was a very fast sailing ship of the mid 19th century. They were fast, yacht like vessels, with three masts and a square rig. Generally narrow for their length, they could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area. Clipper ships were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards, and sailed all over the world, but primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and its colonies in the east, in trans-Atlantic trade, and the New York or Boston-to-San Francisco route round Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush.  These ships not only brought thousands of men and tons of supplies to California, but the companies that owned these ships were in a rush to get to California faster than anyone else. Of the thousands of ships that made it to San Francisco Bay, many did not make it out. They were bound together, filled in and a city was built over the top of them.
Exhibits light handling, with fold lines (though not as pronounced as scan suggests, overall VG- Fine cond. ca126); $125.