The Whalers of Honfleur in the Seventeenth Century

The Honfleur admiralty archives have a remarkable collection of reports made by captains returning from their voyages, among which have been found the accounts of 31 whalers and one other which did not return to Honfleur. These archives also contain some lists of crews, equipment, and provisions on board. We have at our disposal therefore a very interesting collection of documents about 32 French whalers between 1668 and 1688. . The first part of this paper deals with the ships, their owners and crews; the second part describes the practice of whaling.