Sailing Ships

Great Classic

by Kenneth Giggal

Paintings by Cornelis de Vries

Chancellor Press, 2002, ISBN 1851525696, full-page colour reproduction paintings throughout, colour frontispiece, illustrated title page, large hardcover with laminated illustrated boards, dustjacket

Near Fine Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, no inscriptions, dustjacket shows minor edge and shelf wear with  a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners (see photographs)

“A major book of forty of the world’s most famous sailing ships, with original paintings by the celebrated Dutch artist Cornelis de Vines.
De Vries’s ship portraits are exquisite in their detail.  He has a vast knowledge of sailing ships and, wherever possible, works form archive collections of original shipbuilders’ designs and sail plans.  As a result, these specially commissioned paintings provide an accurate representation of the original ships.
Most of the ships included were built in the 400 year period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, when ships and the sea played a vitally important part in the lives of nations and men.  The fascinating text covers both the well-known and lesser-known facts associated with each ship.  There are the famous captains such as Columbus, Magellan and Vasco de Gama who set out on thrilling and perilous voyages of discovery across uncharted seas.  There are the well-known names of ships, such as HMS Victory and USS Constitution, which played significant roles in the politics and independence of their countries, as well as many other fighting vessels that changed the course of history.
Also included are the commercial vessels, such as, ‘The Flying Dutchman’, which led the way in cutting down travelling time, racing the seas between such far-flung shores as Australia, the Orient and the western seaboard of America.”