by Edward W. Hobbs, A.I.N.A., Vickers Gold Medallist
with an introduction by L.G. Carr Laughton
A terrific small volume for the "ship spotter" and modeler: coverage from logs to logarithms!. Much smaller than Chatterton's great works but more digestible because of it and somewhat further into the modern world in its coverage. From the Preface: The glamour of the sailing ship is unlikely to be effaced from the memory of insular peoples who in the past have of necessity largely built up their place in the world with the aid of sailing ships. This work is an endeavour to show briefly and in a pictorial manner something of the evolution of the sailing ship from the earliest times until the present day. The author is fully aware of the magnitude of the task, that it is a subject of great difficulty, and that it is impossible, in this book, to do more than indicate some of the phases through which the sailing ship has passed. Many of the illustrations are based on tradition or conjecture, but, so far as is practicable, an attempt has been made to reconstruct these fascinating vessels from contemporary evidence and to present them as actual ships in active pursuit of their vocation. In general, the illustrations are of characteristic ships of the period. They are not submitted as being meticulously detailed, indeed to do so would require many similar volumes. Although every year increases the store of knowledge of old ships, much has yet to be discovered. Probably no other sphere offers such scope for the studious explorer to unearth facts and information."
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