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Literature and links, museums, historic ships and replicas
Many times I have
been asked about literature on model ship building and specific plans for some
ships. There are two
outstanding books I would recommend for beginners (and for advanced builders as
reference work):
Wolfram zu Mondfeld, Historic Ship Models, Sterling Publishing 1989,
ISBN 0806957336,
Orazio Curti, Enzyklopaedie des Schiffsmodellbaus, Delius Klasing Verlag, 1992,
ISBN 3-7688-0770-3 (in German, unfortunately I could not find an English
translation, although this book seems to be translated from the original Italian
Modelli Navali into many languages: Modeles Reduits, Encyclopedie Du
Modelisme Naval; Il Grande libro dei Modelli Navali; Het Scheepsmodel: Tuigage
en Uitrusting).
A more detailed list of books on specific topics is further down this page.
Many of the ship
models in this website are based on kits, whose plans and materials were
modified more or less by the model ship builders. A beginner should always start
with a kit of a smaller model.
Model ship kits,
fittings, pieces, and materials by several kit makers
(Calder Craft, Corel, Mantua-Sergal, Panart, Mamoli, Amati, Artesania Latina, Aeronaut, Billing Boats
etc.) you can buy from many local retailers or internet shops. In addition, it
is worthwhile to get the original catalogues of the kit makers.
Plans of ships and
ship models you can buy from
Christian Schmidt Fachbuchhandlung,
Sauerbruchstr. 10, D-81377 Muenchen, Germany and from many museums, such as the
Musée de la Marine in Paris or the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
There are two mail order firms that are second hand bookshops with large stocks
of maritime literature:
Walter F. E. Andraeas,
Antiquariat Andraeas, Marine- u. Militaerwissenschaftliches Antiquariat,
Klosterwisch 9, D-22359 Hamburg, Germany, Tel. +49 40 6031922,
and
Jutta Breede, Die See, das Schiff, die Fahrt - antiquarischer Buchversand,
Gießener Str. 13, D-28215 Bremen, Germany, Tel. +49 421 374632.
Photos of historic ships and museum exhibits:
The best
information on historic ships, life in the age of sail and ship modelling you
get by visiting museums or restored ships like HMS Victory or replicas like the
British frigate Rose.
I put in a list of some museums which I visited in recent years and where I was allowed to make photographs. The
pages give a short characterisation of the museum, a link to its homepage, and
photos of some of the exhibition objects.
If you have
a chance it is worthwhile to visit:
Portsmouth historic dockyard, the center of the Great Age of Sail, with
HMS Victory of 1765, Nelson's flagship, in dry dock,
HMS Warrior of 1860, the world’s first iron-hulled
warship powered by steam,
the rediscovered hull of the
Mary Rose of 1545, and her museum,
the
Royal Naval Museum,
the replica
of Endeavor, the ship of James Cook,
the
Science Museum in London,
the replica of
frigate HMS
Rose of 1757,
the replica of the Dutch
VOC ship Batavia of 1628,
the replica of the
1340 cog ship
of Kampen,
the
Musee de la Marine in Paris,
the
Museo Naval in Madrid,
the
Deutsche Museum in Munich,
the
Museu da Marinha, Lisbon,
the
Orlogsmuseet in Copenhagen,
the
Vikingeskibsmuseet
Roskilde, Denmark,
the
Internationales Maritimes Museum in Hamburg,
the British
National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London.
Other links
on model ship making and
maritime topics
Arbeitskreis Historischer
Schiffbau - the
homepage of the German model ship builder clubs.
I like to have a
look at several webpages and journals from time to time:
Ship Modelers' Forum Web Site
Seaways' Ships in Scale Magazine
Nautical Journals with
introductions and links to many journals like the Model Shipwright
Traditional Boats & Tall Ships Magazine
There is lots
of detailed information
available on the
Flags Of The World.
Very beautiful
ship models, somewhat larger than usual (1.5 - 2 m) and somewhat more expensive, you can find
(in French and English) at
Olivier
Bello : Arsenal Modelism.
Here are some other fine ship
models by Russian modellers (http://www.shipmodels.com.ua/).
At scalemodel.net you find many scale model
related web sites
If you could't find what you are looking for, try
The mother of all
maritime link lists, a claim that might be true. Operated by
John Kohnen in
Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Helpful literature on specific topics I appreciated:
Maritime
museums
Peter Neill, Great Maritime Museums of the World, Balsam
Press Inc., New York 1991, ISBN 0-917439-12-0, many
photos of models and original ships, paintings, other exhibits. Description of the museums,
also useful in travel preparation.
The VASA Museum, Stockholm. Museum
brochure with wonderful pictures of the salvation of the VASA, her hull in the
museum and her carved ornaments. Contemporary drawings and sketches of her
construction. In the museum you can buy a treatise by Curt
Borgenstam, Anders Sandstroem, Why VASA Capsized, AB Grafisk Press, Stockholm
1995, ISBN 91-85268-60-7.
Staff of the
Musée National de la Marine in Paris, Treasures of the Musée National de la
Marine, Éditiones de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris 2006, ISBN
2-7118-5096-X. Selection of the museum's exhibits, with excellent photos and
good explanations. Ship models, paintings etc.
Contemporary paintings,
drawings, and
sketches of historic ships
Alan Russett, "Dominic Serres R.A. 1719 - 1793, War Artist to
the Navy", The Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk 2001,
ISBN 1 85149 360 3.
First-class reproductions of the paintings.
In connection with the very detailed index one can conduct an easy search for
paintings on ships and historic events.
Jeron Giltaij, Jan Kelch, Herren der Meere - Meister der Kunst, Das
hollaendische Seebild im 17. Jahrhundert,
Catalogue (in German) to the
exhibition of 17th century Dutch maritime painters in the Museum
Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam, 21
December 1996 till 23 February 1997, and Staatliche Museen zu
Berlin, Gemaeldegalerie im Bodemuseum, 21
March till 25 May 1997. First-class
large-size reproductions of the paintings
and detailed comments.
E.H.H. Archibald, The Dictionary of Sea Painters of Europe
and America, The Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk 2000, ISBN 1 85149 269 0,
also well done reprints and good explanations.
David Joel, "Charles Brooking 1723 - 1759 an the 18th Century British Marine
Painters", The Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk 2000, ISBN 1 85149 277 1, beautiful paintings, that are reprinted finely enough (as in the
other books on paintings cited here) to show model ship builders in many details
how the ships looked those days.
Michael E.Leek, The Art of Nautical Illustration. A Visual
Tribute to the Achievements of the Classic Marine Illustrators, Greenwich
Editions 1998, ISBN 0-86288-123-4.
John Harland, Ships & Seamanship, The Maritime Prints of J
J Baugean, Chatham Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1 86176 143 0.
Many sketches from the beginning of the 19th century, with short
explanations of the scenery.
Musée des
Beaux-Arts Rouen, Autour de Claude-Joseph Vernet - La Marine à voile de 1650 à
1850, Éditions Anthèse, Arcueil, France, ISBN 291225709-3 (in French). Many
paintings of the French maritime world, with explanations. Many works of Claude
Vernet (1714 - 1789).
Photos of modern and historic sailing ships or their replicas
Otmar Schäuffelen, Die letzten grossen Segelschiffe, Delius Klasing Verlag,
Bielefeld 1997, ISBN 3-7688-0483-6, (in German) many photos,
also from replicas of historic ships, and comments on ship history and today's
situation (mostly use as museum ship etc).
Franco Gioretti, Sailing Ships, White Star S.r.l., Vercelli, Italy 2001, ISBN
1-58663-231-0, many paintings, drawings, sketches, and photos of historic and
today's sail.
Neil Hollander, Harald Mertes,
The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail, Smithmark Pub 1987, ISBN
0312471394.
Many impressive photos of the last working sailors in India, Brasilia, Egypt,
Sri Lanka etc.
Beken of Cowes, A Hundred
Years of Sail, HarperCollins Publishers 1997, ISBN 1860462537. Legendary photos
of the great yachts at Cowes since 1880.
Morris and Stanley
Rosenfeld, Segel im Wind, Edition Maritim 1999, ISBN 3-89225-398-6 (in German).
Wonderful photos of yachts, working sails, regattas and the America's Cup ships
from the 1880s till the 1960s. Legendary photos, impressive, excellent reprints.
There seems to be no English translation of this book, but an Italian original
publication: Vele e Velieri. There are other books with photographs by the
Rosenfelds in English - I assume that they have similar contents.
Morris and
Stanley Rosenfeld, A Century under Sail, copyright by Stanley Rosenfeld, printed
in China 2001, ISBN 0-939510-71-5, wonderful photos of the yachts at America's
coast, from 1884. Many close-up views, with details.
Photos
of ship models, building ship models
Jean Boudriot, Modeles Historiques, Musée de la Marine,
ISBN 2 903 179-24, A.N.C.R.E. Paris
1997 (in French), excellent photos of exhibits in the French maritime
museums, with detailed explanations.
There is an English translation: Historic Ship's Models in the Musée de la
Marine, translated by David Roberts. See
Editions ANCRE .
So far only in
French available, but very interesting with beautiful photos, too:
Volume 2 on more ship
models: Tome II, A.N.C.R.E. Nice 2006, ISBN 2 903179-43-3.
Bernard Frölich, The Art of
Shipmodelling, The Navy of Sailing Ships 1680 -
1820, A.N.C.R.E. Nice 2002, ISBN 2 903 179-24-7, excellent photos and comprehensive guide.
See
Editions ANCRE .
Karl-Heinz
Marquardt, Eighteenth-century Rigs and Rigging, Conway Maritime Press, London
1992, ISBN 0 85177 586 1. Very detailed information on masting and rigging,
compiled from a range of contemporary and modern works. The best I ever found.
Philip Reed, Modelling Sailing Men-of-War, an Illustrated
Step-by-Step Manual, Chatham Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-55750-444-X. Very
detailed stepwise documentation of the making of a 74-gun-ship. 400 photos.
Jean Boudriot,
Hubert Berti, Chebec Le Requin 1750 du constructeur majorquin Joseph Caubet,
A.N.C.R.E. Paris 1987, ISBN 2-903 179-07-7. Description of the chebec, many
contemporary sketches, 22 plans in 1 : 48 scale. Included is an English
translation by David H. Roberts "XEBEC LE REQUIN 1750" of the text in a separate
brochure.
Flags
Timothy Wilson, Flags at Sea, National Maritime Press,
Annapolis, Maryland 1986, ISBN 1-55750-296-X.
Alfred Znamierowski,
The World Encyclopedia of Flags, Lorenz Books 2005,
ISBN 0754814432. Together with the book of Wilson a very good introduction.
Detailed descriptions.
Contemporary books on
historic ship building (available reprints)
Frederik Henrik af Chapman, Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, Stockholm 1768.
Reprint and translation into German: VEB Hinsdorff Verlag Rostock, 1968, with
62 original plans and comments on ship building. Theoretical considerations of
that time. Excellent books with plans to check model ship plans. The classic
work. - I am sure that you can find reprints of English translations, some of
them being antiques themselves.
Album de Colbert, 1670.
Reprint by Editions
Omega, Nice, 1988. The fifty plates of the "ALBUM DE COLBERT" are the only
illustrated document bearing witness to the ambition of Louis XIV in the 1660s
to create a navy which would be for some years the most powerful in the world. The 50 plates
show every stage of the building of an 80-gun-ship. Comments on the plans in
French, English translations in supplement.
Marmaduke Stalkartt, Naval Architecture or The Rudiments
and Rules of Ship Building. Exemplified in a Series of Draughts and Plans with
Observations. J. Boydell Cheapside, London, 1787. Facsimile reprint by Jean Boudriot Publications, 1991.
Description and plans of a 74-gun-ship, a 44-gun-ship and five smaller ships.
Remarkable are print type and wording of the text: "IT is
needless to offer any apology for the Publication of this Treatise. The
Importance of Ship-building is at this day sufficiently understood to justify
the present attempt. Men of all professions feel themselves interested ...."
Amiral Paris, Souvenirs de la marine. Collections de plans ou
dessins de navires et de bateaux anciens ou modernes, 1871 (in French).
Reprint by: Editions des 4 Seigneurs, Grenoble 1975. Very detailed large scale
plans, metric scale, of sail in 18th and 19th century. Very good work to check
plans of ship models.
The Anthony
Roll of Henry VIII's Navy, edited by C.S. Knighton and D.M. Loades. Pepys
Library 2991 and British Library Additional MS 22047 with related documents.
Published by Ashgate for the Navy Records Society, Hants, England, 2000, ISBN 0
7546 0094 7. In the last year of the reign of Henry VIII an officer of the
ordnance, Anthony Anthony, compiled a complete visual record of the royal ships.
58 ships are represented in illustrations. Accompanying texts on tonnage,
crew, weapons and munitions are printed in their original spelling.
Also in the book are articles on the history of the Anthony Roll, the ordnance
in the beginning of the 16th century, and naval technology of that time. In this
publication the complete set of 58 illustrations is printed for the first time.
Unfortunately one cannot expect that the illustrations were portraits of
individual ships. There are many obvious distortions and discrepancies between
illustrations and texts. The reason for this is not known. Maybe it was the wish
of Henry VIII to impress royal visitors with this compilation of the royal navy
ships. All in all an interesting
book.
Darcy Lever,
The Young Sea Officers Sheet Anchor - or a Key to the Leading of Rigging and to
Practical Seamanship, 2nd edition published by John Richardson, London 1819.
Unabridged reprint by Dover Publications, Mineola, New York 1998, with a forward
by John D. Harland. ISBN 0486402207. Systematic detailed description of building
and operating rigging and sails, and ship handling in various circumstances.
Many drawings.
Today's books on historic
ship building
László Veres, Richard Woodman,
The Story of Sail: Illustrated with over 1000 Scale Drawings. Naval Institute
Press 1999, ISBN 1557508968. Drawings in metric and feet scale. Plans of hulls
and rigging. Very good overview on ship and boat types.
Björn Landström, The Ship.
An Illustrated History. Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York 1961. Beautiful
drawings and many comments on the development of ship building. An ongoing
classic work.
James Dodds,
James Moore, Building the Wooden Fighting Ship, Hutchinson & Co., London 1984,
ISBN 00915112506. Excellently researched and detailed illustrated description of
the building of H.M.S. Thunderer, a two-decker ship of the line, 74 guns,
launched in 1760. Every stage of building is described and represented by many
drawings, thus giving a picture of work and life in a 18th century shipyard.
Four books
on masting and rigging:
a) James
Lees, The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625 - 1860, Conway
Maritime Press, London, Revised Edition 1984, ISBN 0 85177 290 0. Very detailed
and comprehensive description of the change of rig over time. Many drawings and
close up photographs of contemporary models. The book was written after Lees' 15
years of work as the senior conservation officer at the National Maritime Museum
in Greenwich. Excellent treatise, the best I found on this subject.
b) Lennarth
Petersson, Rigging Period Ship Models, Chatham Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1
55750 970 0. Very detailed drawings of the rigging and belaying plans of a
contemporary frigate model in the Bristol Industrial Museum: the Melamptus,
a 36 gun, 18 pounder frigate of 1844. Excellent. As the works concentrates on
only one ship, it can be even more detailed the Lees' work (above).
c) Lennarth
Petersson, Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft, Chatham Publishing, London 2007,
ISBN 978 1 59114 721 3. Very detailed drawings of the rigging and belaying plans
of three contemporary models: a naval cutter of the second half of the
eighteenth century (London Science Museum), a French lugger of 1800 (National
Maritime Museum, Greenwich), a typical American Schooner of the early 1800s
(based on a model in the Naval Museum in Karlskrona, Sweden, the model bearing a
close resemblance to the schooner Experiment that was built 1808 in New
York and sold to the Swedish Navy). As excellent as Petersson's other
work (above).
d) John
Harland, Seamanship in the Age of Sail. An account of the shiphandling of the
sailing man-of-war 1600 - 1860, based on contemporary sources. Conway Maritime
Press, London 1984, ISBN 0-87021-955-3. Excellently researched book with many
drawings and reprints of paintings on the topic. Detailed description how
maneuvers were actually carried out and how sails were operated. Very useful for anybody who
wants his model's sails set according to a specific wind direction.
Joseph Wheatley, Historic Sail, The Glory of the Sailing
Ship from the 13th to the 19th Century, Greenhill Books, London 2000, ISBN
1-85367-399-4, Very fine and detailed beautiful
drawings.
Frank Howard, Sailing Ships
of War, 1400 to 1860, Rutledge Pr 1980, ISBN 0831776560, detailed description of
the development over the centuries. Many drawings and paintings.
Bernard Crochet, Geschichte der Schiffahrt, Verlag Delius
Klasing, Bielefeld 1995, ISBN 3-7688-0912-9 (in German). History of ship
building from ancient Egyptians till today. Many illustrations.
There seems to be no English translation. The title of the French original is:
Bateaux de toujours: Des témoins de l'histoire,
ISBN: 2035062195.
David R MacGregor, The Schooner, Its Design and
Development from 1600 to the Present, Chatham Publishing London 1997, ISBN 1
86176 020 5.
Karl Heinz Marquardt, The Global Schooner, Origins,
Development, Design and Construction 1695 - 1845, Conway Maritime Press, London
2003, ISBN 0 85177 930 1.
David R MacGregor,
Fast Sailing Ships: Their Design and Construction, 1775-1875,
Nautical Pub. Co
(1973) , ISBN: 0245519645. Very detailed and thorough explanations, many
illustrations.
Gabriele Hoffmann, Uwe
Schnall, Die Kogge - Sternstunde der deutschen Schiffsarchaeologie.
Convent Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-934613-50-0 (in German). Description of the
1962 discovery, salvation, restoration and reconstruction of the cog in Bremen.
Role of the cogs in the Hansa. Evaluation
of ship technology. Many photos of the replicas built under sail.
There seems to be no English translation.
Jean
Boudriot, Hubert Berti, The History of the French Frigate, Jean Boudriot
Publications, Rotherfield, East Sussex, England 1993, ISBN 0948864-15-X.
Translated by David H. Roberts. Lots of detailed information on marine
technology development and on individual ships.
David
Childs, The Warship Mary Rose, The Life and Times of King Henry VIII's Flagship,
Chatham Publishing, London 2007, ISBN 978 1 86176 267 2. In 1982 the remaining
parts of the hull of the Mary Rose were salvaged in Portsmouth harbour. The Mary
Rose sank there in 1545 when she was part of Henry VIII's fleet in his battle
with the French. The book tells the story of her construction and her role in
the navy and the Tudor politics. Very much detailed information and contemporary
paintings. Worthwhile, too, is a visit of the excellent Mary Rose Museum (with
many artefacts salvaged with the hull) and the remains of the hull in
Portsmouth.
Keith
Durham, Viking Longship, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK 2002, ISBN 978 1 84176
349 1. Detailed photos and drawings of Viking ships.
Max Vinner,
Viking Ship Museum Boats, Kannike Graphic A/S, Roskilde, Denmark 2002, ISBN 87
85 180 48 3 . Photos and drawings of the replica ships of the Viking museum in
Roskilde, Denmark.
Other topics
Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World, An Historical
Encyclopaedia, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York 1997, ISBN 0-395-71556-3.
Tony Gibbons
et al., The Encyclopedia of Ships, Amber Books Ltd, ISBN 1-85605-591-4. London
2001. Comprehensive coverage of 1500 ships and ship types, from the earliest
times to present day. Many illustrations.
A. Dudszus et al.,
Dictionary of ship types: Ships, boats, and rafts under oar and sail,
Conway Maritime
Press, 1986, ISBN: 0851773605, a comprehensive encyclopaedia.
Basil W. Bathe, The Visual
Encyclopaedia of Nautical Terms
under Sail, Crown Publishers Inc., New York 1978, ISBN 0-517-53317-0 77-28560. A
very helpful book!
Capt. H.
Paasch, From Keel to Truck - De la quille a la pomme de mât - Vom Kiel zum
Flaggenknopf, Illustrated Marine Encyclopedia (English, French, German), third
edition 1901. Reprint by Verlag Eckhardt & Messtorff, Hamburg 1978, ISBN
3770240006. The classic work, very useful even today. In my opinion much better
than the (smaller) first edition of 1885, of which many reprints exist.
Dava Sobel,
Longitude - The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific
Problem of His Time, Fourth Estate Ltd., London, 1996, ISBN 1 85702 571 7.
History and achievements of John Harrison who built the first exact timekeepers
usable for determining longitude in the 1750s and 1760s. Exciting, thrilling
narrative, especially by including the impacts of political intrigues, personal
feuds and the wars with France. Clear understandable description of the
scientific background.
Andrew
Lambert, War at Sea in the Age of Sail 1650 - 1850, Cassell, London 2000, ISBN 0
304 35246 2. Overview on the nature of sea power, navy organization, ship
design, gun technology and battle tactics. Historical chronology of all major
sea powers and the use of navies in national politics.
Analysis of the English superiority at sea by their better training of crews and
gunners and the accumulated experience of their officers.
The English Navy was regarded as the vital force to defend the country, whereas
the rulers of France often favoured the army when funds were scarce. Many contemporary paintings.
Excellently narrated and fascinating book, though
written with a slight English bias.
Robert Gardiner, The Campaign of Trafalgar 1803 - 1805,
Chatham Publishing, London 1997, ISBN 1 86176 028 0.
Very detailed description of those two years of navy war, ending with Nelson's
funeral in London. Many contemporary sketches and paintings.
Roy Adkins, Trafalgar - the
Biography of a Battle, Little, Brown, London 2004, ISBN 0 316 72511 0. Extensive
narrative of the final days of the battle. Interspersed are many explanations on
the political background and technical standards. The book is made very
interesting by the numerous contemporary quotations of letters, newspaper
articles and other citations. Outline of Nelson's battle plan to create a
general melee in which he knew the English would handle their ships better. Several paintings showing the stages of the battle
by the hour, with maps giving
the positions of the individual ships.
John D
Harbron, Trafalgar and the Spanish Navy, Conway Maritime Press, London 1988,
ISBN 0851774776. The book explores the renewal of the Spanish sea power during
the 1700s, and the importance of the large Spanish shipyard in Havana, Cuba.
Analysis of Spain's defeat at Trafalgar 1805: too few experienced seamen, too
little training of crews and gunners in comparison to the English. Description of the fifteen warship
captains and the four admirals who fought at that battle.
Barry Strauss,
The Battle of Salamis - The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece and Western
Civilization, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2005, ISBN 0-7432-4451-6.
Fascinating narrative account of an history professor about the 480 B.C.
invasion of Persians into Greece, led by Xerxes. Description of Greek resistance
by Leonidas at Thermopylae and Themistocles' management of the Greek victory at
Salamis.
William
Fitzhugh, Elisabeth Ward, Vikings - the North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian
Institution 2000, ISBN 1-56098-970-x. Description of the Viking expansion 750 -
1050 to Iceland, Greenland and North America. Photos of many arts and household
objects, maps, historical background.
Andrew
Bridgeford, 1066 - The Hidden History in the Bayeux Tapestry, Walker & Company,
New York 2005, ISBN 0-8027-1450-1. History of the Norman conquest of
England in 1066, by comparing the scenes of the Bayeux tapestry to other
contemporary written sources. Impressive, knowledgeable, and exciting. However,
there is one serious drawback in the book: the colour prints of the tapestry
scenes are too small. The fine details, decisive in understanding the meaning of
a scene, mostly cannot be recognized. The best internet source I could find for the
tapestry scenes and the pictures of the Norman ships was:
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/bytype/textiles/bayeux/index.html
All the
tapestry scenes are finely printed in:
Lucien Musset,
The Bayeux Tapestry, translated by Richard Rex, Boydell and Brewer Limited,
Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, 2005, ISBN 1 84383 163 5. Excellent high resolution
photographs of all tapestry scenes, with detailed commentary on each, more than
in Andrew Bridgeford's work (see above; however, Andrew Bridgeford gives a more
comprehensive description of the historic background). A special chapter is on
the ships alone, comparing the tapestry pictures with the (few) other
contemporary sources before 1100, like the eighth-century engraved stone from
Lärbro, Bunge Museum, Gotland.
Ian W. Toll,
Six Frigates - the Epic History of the Foundation of the U.S. Navy, W. W. Norton
& Company, Inc., New York 2006, ISBN 0393058476. History of the six frigates
that were authorized by President Washington in 1794. Detailed chronology of the
wars with England and the Barbary States of North Africa, and the main
characters involved on all sides.
Donald S.
Johnson, Juha Nurminen, The History of Seafaring - Navigating the World's
Oceans, Conway Maritime Press, London 2007, ISBN 9781844860401. Voyage through
3000 years of maritime history, history of ships and navigation knowledge. Large
format book with many illustrations of old maps, navigational tools,
contemporary technical drawings. For me most impressive: the comparison of the
European navigational skills of James Cook and the accuracy of the
traditional skills of the Tahitian navigators.
Joan Blaeu,
Atlas Maior of 1665. Reprint by Taschen
Deutschland
GmbH 2005, ISBN 3-8228-3125-5.
"The greatest and finest
atlas ever published." Introduction and explanations by
Peter van der Krogt. All texts in English, German, French.
Description taken from the Taschen webpage: The finest
and most comprehensive baroque atlas was Joan Blaeu's exceptional Atlas Maior,
completed in 1665. The original 11-volume Latin edition, containing 594 maps,
put Blaeu ahead of his staunch competitor, mapmaker Johannes Janssonius, whose
rivalry inspired Blaeu to produce a grandiose edition of the largest and most
complete atlas to date. Covering Arctica, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America,
Blaeu's Atlas Maior was a remarkable achievement and remains to this day one of
history's finest examples of mapmaking.
This reprint is made from the National Library of Vienna's complete, colored,
gold-heightened copy, thus assuring the best possible detail and quality. The
book's introduction, by the University of Utrecht's Peter van der Krogt,
discusses the historical and cultural context and significance of the atlas;
Krogt also provides detailed descriptions of the maps, allowing modern readers
to fully appreciate Blaeu's masterwork.
For me it is a pleasure to have a look at the old maps and
paintings. The introductions to the details of mapmaking those days are very
interesting. If one compares the inaccurate maps with today's, one can visualise
the difficulties of navigation in the 1600s.
I found this atlas when strolling near the town hall of Hamburg, in a small shop
called
"maps&ducks", where they have some more books on
historic mapmaking.
http://www.mapsandducks.de
Boye Meyer-Friese, Schiffsplakate, Seereisen im Spiegel zeitgenössischer
Werbung, Edition Maritim, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-89225-458-3 (in German). Excellent reprints
of advertisement posters by shipping companies from 19th and 20th century, with
commentary.
Giancarlo
Costa, Die hölzernen Engel - Galionsfiguren aus fünf Jahrhunderten, Delius
Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 1980, ISBN 3-7688-0330-9 (in German). The title of an
English edition might be: "Figureheads:
Carving on ships from ancient times to twentieth century".
Development and history of ships figure heads, with many fine photos.
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