the waste book, or running account of money in and out, kept by Capt. Alexander Erskine during a series of voyages from Bangor, Maine to Baltimore, with occasional ventures to the Bahamas and Cuba and to Calais aboard schooners Alhambra, Canema, and Mill Creek; 4to ruled ledger with entries in pen and pencil, quarter calf binding with decorative paste-paper boards. The captain was not a highly literate man, but the entries are legible and give good insight into the activities of a typical coasting trader of the period.

Binding with some age decay, also wear and tear associated with years of use. The first two pages damaged, and probably a couple of leaves missing.