Journal of a voyage from Philadelphia to Antwerp

In his ship's log, Joseph Martin documented the merchant voyage of the Pacific on two separate expeditions: Philadelphia, to Antwerp (Belgium), to Crounstant (likely Kronstadt, Russia), and back to Philadelphia with Captain Abiah Sharpe; and Philadelphia to Madras (India) and back with Captain James Moore. In addition to standard nautical data, Martin added a small number of illustrations, some in color, and many nautical and mathematical exercises, including data for a seemingly fictional trip from Boston to Madeira (Portugal) in 1808.

Martin only kept a daily log of the voyage with Captain Sharpe from April 20, 1820, to May 10, 1820. However, he included a very brief summary of the entire trip as well as a crew list at the end of the May 10, 1820, entry. For the days which the logs were kept, Martin recorded time, knots, course, wind direction, and some additional remarks. He indicated that the ship returned to Philadelphia on October 17, 1820.