The American Neptune: a quarterly journal of maritime history and arts was the leading academic journal for the field of American maritime history from its establishment in 1941 until it ceased publication in 2002.

History

Established by Samuel Eliot Morison

Samuel Eliot Morison

Samuel Eliot Morison, Rear Admiral, United States Naval Reserve was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history that were both authoritative and highly readable. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and taught history at the university for 40 years...

 and Walter Muir Whitehill

Walter Muir Whitehill

Walter Muir Whitehill was an author, historian and the Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum from 1946 to 1973. He was also editor for publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts from 1946 to 1978. From 1951 to 1972 Whitehill was a professor at Harvard University.Whitehill's...

, the Peabody Museum of Salem published the journal form 1941 to 1992. In 1992-93, it was jointly published by the Peabody and the Essex Museums, and from 1993 until 2002 by the successor organization, the Peabody Essex Museum

Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...

. The journal was originally subtitled as "A quarterly journal of maritime history" and later in 1995 added "and arts".

The American Neptunes final issue was Volume 62, number 1 (Winter 2002). After a hiatus, its place as the premier journal for American scholarship on maritime history was taken by Northern Mariner

Northern Mariner

The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord is a fully refereed, quarterly publication of the Canadian Nautical Research Society/Société canadienne pour la recherche nautique, in association with the North American Society for Oceanic History, and is devoted to the study of maritime affairs and the...

.