Ship books, 18C and earlier, affordable reprints?

[Smile-n-Nod]

I own cheap reprints of Deane's Doctrine of Naval Architecture and Chapman's Architectura Navalis Mercatoria. Are there other such inexpensive naval architecture books available from the 18th century and earlier? 

[trippwj]

There are scads of pdf docs out there, many of which have been scanned, then print on demand by various vendors. Most are reduced in size and carry all the blemishes of the original. There is a modern transcription of Deane by Laverty.

 

I have many pdf versions from the 18th century - any in particular you are interested in?

[Smile-n-Nod]

10 hours ago, trippwj said:

I have many pdf versions from the 18th century - any in particular you are interested in?

I'm looking for printed books.  Thanks, anyway. 

[allanyed]

Brett, when you say inexpensive, do you have a budget in mind?  For some $25 is too much, for others, $250 is too much, and on and on.  For the 18th century, the Shipbuilder's Repository  1788 is a great book to have but it is in the range of $400-$500.  If you are looking only for scantlings, you can find copies of the 1719, 1745 and 1750 Establishments in parts of some books including the 1719 Establishment in Goodwin's Construction and Fitting of British Ships of War.  This book also has a lot of details on all parts of the framing, planking, decks and so forth for a range of years from 1650 to 1850 for under $100.  For armament, furniture and fittings, Lavery's Arming and Fitting British Ships of War is a great book to have for under $100 and covers 1600 to 1815. You can also find the Establishment scantlings and all the scantlings from the Shipbuilder's Repository in  Scantlings of Royal Navy Ships for $45 at Seawatch Books which also contains the scantlings from David Steel's Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture, 1805.  If you have a specific ship in mind you can sometimes find the original contract, especially if it was built in a private yard.  There are hundreds of these available at the National Archives, in Kew, England at no cost if for private use.   I don't know how far back they go but I have transcribed  a few of these hand written contracts from the 17th century and 18th century that are held at the NA in Kew.

Edited April 12, 2021 by allanyed

[Roger Pellett]

Allen,

 

I have been researching the small Royal Navy ketches that accompanied the great fleets that fought in the sea battles of the 1660’s and ‘70s.

 

As these were often built in private yards, I tried to look up a builders contract for one on the National Archives website.  I established an account (I’ve already forgot the password) but then ran into a stone wall when I used the search function.  Regardless of what I typed in I got no hits.  

 

Any suggestions?

 

Roger

[Harvey Golden]

"De Nederlandsche Scheeps Bouw Konst" (Van Yk, 1697) and "Scheeps-Bouw en Bestier" (Witsen, 1671) are in fine facsimile re-print in recent years. 

[allanyed]

Roger,

They may not have one digitized or possibly they do not have one at all.  I just did a search using the key words ketch, builder and contract with a time span of 1650-1700 and had a lot of hits, but no builder contracts.   Do you have names of any of these ketches?

[Mark P]

Good Evening Allan/Roger;

 

I can confirm that none of the contracts held at either the NA or at the NMM have been digitised. The NMM ones are available as copies, but the last I heard this was an expensive service. 

 

At the NA, search under ref ADM 106/3071. This will bring up what looks like a bunch of contracts dealing with sick and wounded, but is actually largely comprised of ship contracts. Amongst these are several for 10 gun ketches of 1690-94. However, the index entry online is brief, and does not list the documents individually. 

 

There are a couple of earlier contracts for ketches from 1664 in the State Papers, but these are not generally available, as they are restricted access documents; obtaining copies of these would perhaps be possible via the NA's copying service. However, they are very brief, and do not give a lot of detail of the structure; unlike the ADM ones, which are several pages long. 

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

[Roger Pellett]

Allen, Mark,

 

Thanks for the info.  I’ll dig a little deeper.

 

The ketch that I am most interested in is the Roe built in 1670.  Van De Velde The Younger included her in in a painting of an action against the Barbary Pirates off Tangier.

 

The painting hangs in the private dining room at Hampton Court and is in the Royal Collection.  A copy of the painting cane found on their website.