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Bookish captain's exclamation to a seaman (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ahab

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'bookish captain's' is the definition.
'ahab' can be an answer for 'captain's' (Captain Ahab appears in Moby-Dick). I'm unsure of the 'bookish' bit.

'exclamation to a seaman' is the wordplay.
'exclamation' becomes 'ah'.
'to a seaman' becomes 'ab' (short for able seaman).
'ah'+'ab'='AHAB'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ahab that I've seen before include "Jezebel's husband or captain in 'Moby Dick'" , "Captain in search of Moby Dick" , "Captain hunting the whale Moby-Dick" , "Whaling Captain" , "Husband of Jezebel" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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