Livro Primeiro de Architectura Naval - João Baptista Lavanha

[trippwj]

The Livro Primeiro de Arquitectura Naval (First Book of Naval Architecture) has been dated between 1608 and 1615, and is generally considered to have been written around 1600 by João Baptista Lavanha, the Chief Engineer and Chief Cosmographer of the kingdom of Portugal at that time. It is the theoretical work of a scholar, and not a practical text of a shipwright. It deals only with one type of vessel: the four decked nau for the India Route. It is clearly more modern than Oliveira’s Liuro da Fabrica das Naus, basing the construction of hulls on paper drawings. Nevertheless, Lavanha calls for the need to pre-design a central portion of the hull, although only for five frames forward and abaft the midship section. The importance of this treatise lies in its accurate description of construction techniques, and in its detailed illustrations. It is incomplete, ending abruptly in the beginning of a description of the drawing of plans.

 

Both Lavanha's and Oliveira's works are availble from the Academia de Marinha, the cultural agency of the Portuguese Navy under the Chief of Naval Staff. Its purpose is to promote and to publish artistic, literary, historical, and scientific studies relating to the sea and maritime activities. For those that are able to read Portuguese, there are a number of other items also posted. I thought these two early manuscripts may be of interest. While Lavanha has been translated, Oliveira has not. Some sections of Oliveira have been transcribed while others are facsimile of the original handwritten treatise.

 

Lavanha, J.B. (1610) ‘Livro Primeiro da Architectura Naval (First Book of Naval Architecture)’. Translated by R. A. Barker. Available at: https://academia.marinha.pt/pt/edicoes/Paginas/Reedições.aspx (Published by the Academia de Marinha, Lisbon, 1996, as a facsimile, transcript and translation; and including the 1965 commentary by Dr João da Gama Pimentel Barata, revised and updated from his notes on a draft translation in 1986; together with further annotation by the translator). (Accessed: 2 November 2022).

 

Oliveira, F. (1580) ‘Livro da Fabrica das Naus’. Available at: https://academia.marinha.pt/pt/edicoes/Paginas/Reedições.aspx  (Published by the Academia de Marinha, Lisbon, 1991, as a facsimile, partial transcript). (Accessed: 2 November 2022). Original images available at https://purl.pt/6744  where a 719MB PDF may also be downloaded.

 

Barkers on-line translation of Lavanha (same as in the book) can be found on his website here (he has several very nice items there, including what appears to be a partial translation of Oliveira here....)