Maritime History / Ships & Shipbuilding

FORFAIT, Pierre Alexandre Laurent. Traité élémentaire de la mature des vaisseaux, a l'usage des élèves de la marine; ... Seconde édition, ... considérablement augmentée ... Suivi d'un mémoire sur le système de construction des mâts d'assemblage en usage dans les ports de Hollande ...
Paris, Bachelier (back of half-title: printed by De Fain), 1815. 4to. With 25 engraved folding plates and with several tables folded because they exceed our copy's margins. Contemporary green half calf, gold-tooled spine. 16, 340, [2] pp. Full description

[FRENCH ROYAL NAVY]. [Binding title:] Abregé de la marine du Roy 1732.
[Paris?, 1732]. 13.5×19 cm. Manuscript in brown-black, red and blue ink on vellum, some of the lettering and borders gilt. With a beautiful frontispiece painting in coloured gouaches (14×9.5 cm) pasted on the page facing the opening of the text, showing a small warship at a shipyard in a small harbour being repaired by workmen. Contemporary red morocco, gold-tooled spine, gold-tooled fillets on boards and board edges, richly gold-tooled frame, gilt edges. Frontispiece plus [2], 26 ll., including 2 double and 1 larger folding. Full description

FUNCH, Diderik Hansteen. Dansk Marine-Ordbog.
Copenhagen, Bianco Luno, 1846-1852. 2 parts in 1 volume. Large 4to (30 x 23.5 cm). With 67 full-page engraved plates (7 folding), partly coloured by hand. [4], 169, [3]; 152 pp. Full description

GUEROULT DU PAS, Pierre Jacques. Les differens batimens de la mer oceanne, ...
With:
(2) GUEROULT DU PAS, Pierre Jacques. Les differens batimens de la Mer Mediterranée, ...
(3) GUEROULT DU PAS, Pierre Jacques. Petits batimens de l'ocean.
Paris, Pierre Giffart, [titles of parts 2 & 3 dated 1709]. 3 parts in 1 volume. Oblong Imperial 16mo (12.5 x 16.5 cm). Part 1 with 30 engraved leaves including the title-page, part 2 with 30 engraved leaves including the title-page, and part 3 with 16 engraved leaves. All together 76 plates (plate size mostly ca. 7 x 11 cm, the title plates to parts 1 & 2 ca. 10 x 12 cm) depicting a wide variety of boats and ships, each with a caption identifying the type of ship. Contemporary French gold-tooled calf. Subtly rebacked with the original back-strip laid down. 30; 30; 16 engr. ll. Full description

HIGGINS, William John. South Sea whale fishery. A representation of the ships Amelia Wilson & Castor off the Island of Bouro - with their boats & crew in the various process of fishing, shewing the manner the spermacetti whales are caught, also the method of cutting them into the ship, & boiling the oil upon deck.
London, W.J. Huggins, January 1, 1825. Aquatint (plate size: 44 x 56.5 cm), printed on unwatermarked wove paper (50.5 x 61.5 cm). Full description

JAL, Augustin. Glossaire nautique. Répertoire polyglotte de termes de marine anciens et modernes.
Paris, Firmin Didot frères, 1848. Large 4to (28.5 x 22.5 x 10 cm). Printed in two columns, with many steel engraved illustrations in the text showing ancient, medieval and later ships (some showing small parts in detail) by Alexandre-Nicolas Belhatte (b. 1811) after A. Mayer, and 2 full-page engraved plates: "Une Galère du 17e siècle" and "Elevation et coupe du Montebello, Vaisseau de 120 canons", with an extra added plate of the "Montebello" under sail (1812/21) loosely inserted. Contemporary half calf. 1591 pp. Full description

KOSTER, Everhardus. Schetsboek. Nederlandsche stads- en havengezigten.
Amsterdam, F. Buffa & son; Delft, H. Koster; Leiden, P.H. van den Heuvel, 1858. Folio. With letterpress title-page, lithographed portrait of Koster and 24 tinted lithographed views of Dutch cities and harbours by Johannes Hilverdink after Everhardus Koster, printed by Steuerwald. Contemporary half calf. [26] ll. Full description

[AUTOGRAPH]. LA PÉROUSE, Jean-François de Galaup de. [Short autograph note signed by La Pérouse].
[At sea, ca. 1781-1785]. Short manuscript note in ink on a small sheet of laid paper (12 x 13.5 cm). Full description

LAPLACE, Cyrille Pière Théodore. La frégate de Roi L'Amphitrite. États des consommations faites pendant le mois de Décembre 1824 et que restent abord le 1e Janvier 1825.
[On board, December 1824-1 January 1825]. Manuscript table in brown ink on a whole sheet of laid paper (40 x 52 cm), with the title at the head and signed at the foot right by Laplace. Folded twice. Full description

LEUPE, Pieter Arend. Reize van Maarten Gerritsz. Vries in 1643 naar het noorden en oosten van Japan.
Including: SIEBOLD, Philipp Franz Balthasar von. Aardrijks- en volkenkundige toelichtingen tot de ontdekkingen van Maerten Gerritsz. Vries, met het fluitschip Castricum a[nn]o. 1643.
Amsterdam, Frederik Muller; [The Hague], Koninklijk instituut voor taal-, land en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indië, 1858. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With lithographed folding plate with reproductions of six signatures and a folded lithographed reproduction of Maarten Gerritsz. de Vries's original map, coloured in outline. Contemporary half cloth. [4], 440 pp. Full description