Period Ship Books Recommendations Needed

[Robert Taylor]

These are the New books on my shelf so far after looking at reviews and after a pre overview of them on Google.

 

 

[AJohnson]

On 4/27/2021 at 9:03 AM, Robert Taylor said:

These are the New books on my shelf so far after looking at reviews and after a pre overview of them on Google.

 

 

I have the two Keith Julier "Period Ship" books and have found them useful, a little duplication between them, but not too much.  Not got the "Rigging Period ship models" title, is it good?

[Roger Pellett]

There is extensive commentary about Rigging Period Ship models on precious forum posts.

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, Roger Pellett said:

There is extensive commentary about Rigging Period Ship models on precious forum posts.

I'll add this link to what Roger said...   a good starting point is here:   https://modelshipworld.com/forum/16-masting-rigging-and-sails/

[Robert Taylor]

16 hours ago, AJohnson said:

I have the two Keith Julier "Period Ship" books and have found them useful, a little duplication between them, but not too much.  Not got the "Rigging Period ship models" title, is it good?

Imho Rigging Period ship models is Excellent and a definite must have. 

120 pages, Each rigging  procedure with detailed large drawings. 

An absolutely superb book.

[Mark P]

For any who might be interested, I posted a review of Richard Endsor's most recent book, 'The Master Shipwright's Secrets', in the books section; and also on Amazon. It is a very well-researched and most informative work, with some wonderful fold-out plates by the author, who is an accomplished artist.

 

All the best,

 

Mark 

[Roger Pellett]

I agree with Mark.  The Master Shipwrights’ Secrets is a wonderful book.  It is particularly useful for anyone interested in learning the “nuts and bolts” of designing, or as they would have said in the 1600’s, modeling a Seventeenth Century ship.

 

Roger

[Robert Taylor]

Just arrived another 3 reference books in the shape of the "Anatomy of the ship " series.

 

[druxey]

While good, be aware that the AOTS series do have errors in them. Check against other references.

[Robert Taylor]

Another Superb reference book in 

The Anatomy of Nelson's ships 

great find for only £4.60 all in.

[allanyed]

Longridge's book is great and extremely useful for the late 18th and even into the early 19th century.  This was the second book to go into my modeling library going back to the '70s and I still reference it at times today when appropriate.  But, Tom's focus is 17th century so maybe not so useful as others that have been listed. Scantlings for the ship itself as well as the masting and rigging were quite different in the 17th century compared to the time of Victory

Allan

[tomsimon]

Hi All:  Thanks so much for your help. I wanted to show what books I have acquired that are helping me in my new moldering aspirations and endeavors. Not pictured and  arriving soon are Underhill’s  Vol 1 and 2 Plank on Frame, recommended by Ab. Hoving. Here you go and thanks for all of the help, and Copyright infringement is not intended, by posting these pictures. 
 

[trippwj]

27 minutes ago, tomsimon said:

Hi All:  Thanks so much for your help. I wanted to show what books I have acquired that are helping me in my new moldering aspirations and endeavors. Not pictured and  arriving soon are Underhill’s  Vol 1 and 2 Plank on Frame, recommended by Ab. Hoving. Here you go and thanks for all of the help, and Copyright infringement is not intended, by posting these pictures. 
 

Where did you locate tgat last one from SNR? I've been looking for that for a couple of years!

[tomsimon]

A lot of continuous, consistent and persistent searching on eBay. 

[amateur]

And lots of money? Last one I saw was quite heavily (over?)priced.

(As most second hand books tend to be the last few years. )

 

Jan

[tomsimon]

I was able to get my copy of Vasa I direct from the museum for $19. Just email them your order. The gift shop’s email address is on their website. 

[Guest]

 

[DaveBaxt]

I Couldn't resist the purchase of this book 'Seamanship in the age of sail' by John Harland. Got it second hand but states as new. I haven't heard it mentioned on here so hope I haven't  bought something of no use. I am currently only building my second period ship the Endeavour and my previous ship the Bounty I did not add the sails so  omitted a lot of the running rigging. I am now considering fitting of the sails and all of the running rigging and possibly furling the sails even though the sails were not supplied with the Endeavour kit by Caldercraft.

                             I am hoping the new purchase will help me understand the need for all of the running rigging and how and why it is used. There is a mine field of books on offer and thankfully because of MSW I have chosen to purchase books by James Lees,Andersson Petersson and mondfield and have been described as some of the best out there. No doubt there will be some duplication but hopefully will give me a different perspective in my thirst for learning all I can take in. Best regards Dave  

[rcweir]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:07 PM, Bob Cleek said:

This seems to be a particular problem with reprints of old, long out-of-print volumes that are reissued in paperback format. They seem to have a penchant for reducing the size of diagrams and drawings or, in some cases, simply omitting them when convenient. 

 

Absolutely!   When I can, I try hard to get the original printing of older volumes for this reason, because the original drawings are much sharper, and also because the original bindings are usually much easier to work with than reprints (Dover reprints are usually bound in a way that's especially hard to use).     (I've never found a reprint of anything that feels as good in the hands as the original edition.)  I have had great experience finding old editions at excellent prices through bookfinder.com, or sometimes through one of the other sites that bookfinder uses (notably biblio.com).  And I make an effort to avoid buying such things through Amazon; you'll usually find the dealers' listings through various sites at somewhat different prices.   In a case like this Amazon offers no benefit and I want to support the independents as much as I can.     Remember, in many many cases a patient search can get you the first edition for no more money than a new reprint.

[DelF]

6 hours ago, DaveBaxt said:

I Couldn't resist the purchase of this book 'Seamanship in the age of sail' by John Harland. Got it second hand but states as new. I haven't heard it mentioned on here so hope I haven't  bought something of no use.

You've bought a recognised classic Dave. I've got it, and can reassure you that you've not wasted your money. To quote one top modeller "Everything you wanted to (and should) know about sailing period ships".

 

Derek

[DaveBaxt]

Phew! That's a relief. Thank you again Derek for letting me know. Hopefully I can now get to grips with the rigging and understand how it all comes together.I am slowly building up a nice library and not forgetting power tools. Best regards Dave

Edited November 8, 2021 by DaveBaxt

[Roger Pellett]

Old shipbuilding and seamanship texts often had oversized drawings that folded out or were included in an envelope attached to the book cover or even as a separate volume.  In scanning the book for reproduction the person doing the work often doesn’t bother to unfold the drawings, or leaves them out entirely.

 

The University of Michigan has one of the largest academic  libraries in the US, and since they have taught Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering since the late 1800’s their library includes many books of interest to us.  They were also one of the first US Universities to begin to digitize their collection.  I have bought two books from them:  an 1866 US Navy Ordnance Manual and a Naval Architecture text from the same era.  Both were of far better quality than the usual imported offerings,  and I will continue to buy more, but even these each omitted a drawing.

 

Roger

Edited November 9, 2021 by Roger Pellett

[Bob Cleek]

14 hours ago, DaveBaxt said:

I am hoping the new purchase will help me understand the need for all of the running rigging and how and why it is used.

Seamanship in  the Age of Sail will definitely provide an understanding of how sailing ships work. Understanding how ships operate is really one of the more important subjects any serious modeler must wrap their head around. It is extremely difficult, even with good instructions, to build a model if you don't know how the parts all work together. Most modelers starting out bite off more than they can chew and this is particularly so with the big fancy square-rigged men-o-war. Seamanship in the Age of Sail isn't necessarily a "cookbook" of diagrams of how to rig sailing ships. It's more a compendium of how sailing ships were sailed. I think you'll quickly find that once you know how they were sailed, you'll have no problem understanding how they were rigged and why.

[DaveBaxt]

5 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

Seamanship in  the Age of Sail will definitely provide an understanding of how sailing ships work. Understanding how ships operate is really one of the more important subjects any serious modeler must wrap their head around. It is extremely difficult, even with good instructions, to build a model if you don't know how the parts all work together. Most modelers starting out bite off more than they can chew and this is particularly so with the big fancy square-rigged men-o-war. Seamanship in the Age of Sail isn't necessarily a "cookbook" of diagrams of how to rig sailing ships. It's more a compendium of how sailing ships were sailed. I think you'll quickly find that once you know how they were sailed, you'll have no problem understanding how they were rigged and why.

Excellent news I am now so glad I purchased the book. and thank you for your reply it is very much appreciated. Best regards Dave

[DaveBaxt]

Just received my Copy of the Seamanship in the age of sail and what a great looking book. I spent last night going over the book and as yet this is not a review It looks to be just what I need and as it says should go hand in hand with one of my other books The Masting and Rigging of English ships of War, by James Lees. I haven't in past but will most certainly be keeping an eye open on this thread and also on what else is out there. Unfortunately I have not been able to get my hands on AOTS HMB Endeavour so probably just stick with the two books I now own. Thank you again. Best regards Dave