Customer Reviews

The Art of Rigging (Dover Maritime)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Used as reference for model ship rigging. The text and extensive, accurate pictures are outstanding. Very glad I purchased it from Amazon.com to enhance research library.

When you open the pages of "The Art of Rigging," you step back in time over two hundred years. The language herein is that of mariners of the days of wooden ships. You must learn the language to fully appreciate the treasure that is this book.
The author or, more properly, reviser, Captain George Biddlecombe, Royal Navy, died in 1878. This book, first published in 1848 by another author, Charles Wilson, was based on a rigging manual published in 1794. It was again revised and published in 1925.
If you are expecting modern terms, word usage, and grammar, forget it! This is the real stuff, exactly as done and recorded by the men of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
If you are expecting an easy read on the order of "Dick & Jane and Their Dog Spot," forget it! This book is hard work, even the pictures can be difficult, but it is a varitable gold mine of information if you're willing to dig.
Here is a quotation that I found particularly opaque until I translated it into modern English: "Burton pendants are triced up by the girtlines, and placed over the top-mast-head, that the thimbles may hang on each side, to hook the burton-tackles in."
Poetry! I leave it to you to perform your own translation!
If you believe that there is no gain without pain, this book is for you. If you want your pablum spoon-fed to you, you'd best be advised to buy a plastic model.(...)

For your money, you are probably better off spending more and getting something more comprehensive. Yes, it is basically a dictionary, but if you are after a good reference, get the 'Ship model builders assistant', or go the whole hog, 'Anatomy of Nelson's ships'. It contains little in the way of diagrams, and is very limited in its variance of ships.

Not as good as I expected; true there are lots of pictues of knots, running & standing rigging, but it is (to my mind) badly organised.
The contents of the first 2 chapters are arranged alphabetically, but the writer assumes that you are a sailor and are familiar with 19thC terms and so by the 3rd chapter, you have digested both of these and can now go on to preparatory rigging; which is less than useful as the pictures are in plates several pages away from their description, and they are quite small, which makes it frustrating and difficult to quickly find the info you need.

On the other hand, this was written in the 19thC by a sailor at the height of the age of sail, with an intimate knowledge of rigging; so, used as an addition to other works, it is a valuable tool ... but don't expect it to fulfill all your wishes.

Whilst I spend a great deal of time at sea and frequently find myself wishing I knew the right knot to use or how to correctly splice two ropes together, my main motive for purchasing this book was to assist with my model making.

No, I am not an expert or "advanced modeller" or any of the other titles these devotees give themselves. I just apply common sense and demand a high standard from whatever task I set myself. Consequently, when compared to the models produced by these so-called experts and proudly displayed on the internet, I am happy that my own version of the same kit compares very favourable (i.e. Thermopylae, Cutty Sark and Endeavour).

For a few years now I have owned one of those very large and expensive kits for HMS Victory but haven't dared to get started. When completed this ship will stand almost 5 feet tall (1.6m!) and I know before I even get started that the rigging is the one area where I will struggle - if only because I always have. This book will resolve those difficulties.

No, I have not read the work from cover to cover - it is not that sort of book. Nevertheless, I have studied the content carefully and, quite frankly, it leaves me thinking I could almost rig any ship without instructions - just by using this book.

It isn't just because all the knots, splices and hitches are explained - so that I can duplicate them either for real or in miniature, it's because this book provides a greater understanding of the purpose of each rope and if you understand exactly what a "gaff-top-sail-downhauler" does then you will automatically position that rope correctly.

With excellent illustrations with equally first-rate descriptions, this book has to be as essential to any ship modeller as a sharp knife. Thoroughly recommended.

NM

This book is brilliant. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the rigging of ships. Perhaps not so useful in the real world today, but full of great information and lots of practical knowledge should you find yourself stranded on a Nineteenth Century bark with no one else who understands rigging. Also beneficial for those who enjoy building ship models. A very excellent volume to have on your home library shelves with which to impress your friends and neighbors, too. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

The book does not go into great detail, but does give an excellent idea of how square-riggers were rigged. It is more of an historical document than it is a descriptive analysis of how such ships were rigged and should be bought on that basis.

This book contains a detailed explanation of how to rig a sailing ship. Complete with a glossary of terms and line drawings it is written by a 19th century Royal Navy captain. Although a little too detailed and specialised for other than builders of square-riggers I found it most helpful as a reference while I was crewing aboard HM Bark Endeavour. Anybody who has crewed for the first time on a square-rigger will know that it takes a while to sort out the mass of lines and blocks and determine the purpose and function of each rig, while more experienced hands rarely have the time to explain things fully. This handy reference book helps enormously in clarifying this puzzle and speeds up the learning process. For instance, I was unable to understand why the jib boom guy was necessary, or what the difference between a clewline and a clew-garnet was, until I read this book. A very helpful reference, if a bit old-fashioned in its presentation style, for all those who are, or are considering, crewing on a sailing ship.

The Art of Rigging has been a great help to me in learning the maritme vocabulary of features of a sailoing vessel. I recommend it highly.

Requires a basic knowledge of ship's rigging to be useful; but for the modeller, it is an excellent reference work for specifics of the rigging of various blocks,pendants, etc. it even tells your how to build-up specific types of rigging.
Not a good primary reference but is good as additional information.