WOODEN SHIP : The Art, History and Revival of Wooden Boatbuilding [Hardcover]

David Larkin (Author), Peter Hal Spectre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 1991

The wooden ship is probably the most complex wooden structure devised by man: a vast three-dimensional sculpture built from countless pieces fitted together like a jigsaw. This book explores this structure from its earliest and simplest forms, like the birch-bark canoe, to its modern descendants: the sophisticated racers and pleasure crafts of the 20th century. Each step in this boat-building evolution is illuminated by photographs, diagrams and historical material. From dugouts and dinghys to warships and workboats, this book celebrates the illustrious art, craft and history of wooden boat-building.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a beautiful, lavishly illustrated book about the history and glory of wooden craft of all sorts. Spectre, a boating writer, begins with the construction of Viking ships and progresses through the age of the fighting sail. He concludes with the building of present-day wooden power boats and yachts. Larkin's many fine photographs enhance the text. The price is not out of line for a work of this ilk, and many libraries will want to consider it. Recommended.
-Robert E. Greenfield, formerly with Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Larkin is the editor-designer of the best-selling Barn and Shaker and the author of Farm, among many other books published here and abroad. He currently lives in Cherry Plain, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (November 8, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395566924
• ISBN-13: 978-0395566923
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nautical Nostalgia, October 30, 2003

By 

B.P. "tilley_traveler" (Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WOODEN SHIP : The Art, History and Revival of Wooden Boatbuilding (Hardcover)

A foremost attraction to this sizeable book is it's huge flotilla of photography. The reader will uncover a fine collection of colored images, many in full page and double page layouts. Illustrating in depth the highly involved art of boat building and its engineering history. The book elaborates on the construction ingenuity to various ships and the livelihood of their owners throughout the ages, from Viking to whaling.

In text the book provides information on the evolution of wooden boats. Starting with a variety of small and simple rowing craft, gradually moving up in scale to the great sailing ships of trade and war. Then it dwells on the origin of the yacht and continues with a few forms of wooden recreational, motorized and/or sailing boats found today. The book describes the different methods and styles of past ship building, either shell first or skeleton frame first, using either smooth-skin (carvel) or lapstrake (clinker) planking. Birch bark canoes, single-log dugouts to even "five-log" canoes are accounted for as well.

A large devotion of the book goes to the construction of the Susan Constant replica, detailed in pictures, practically step by step. Ship reconstruction of the Batavia is also given a presence by some text and pictures in comparison to the Susan Constant. Then the story of the Swedish war ship Vasa is mentioned. But before all this the book is involved with the subject of Viking ships, giving an overview of a couple magnificent old relics found nearly intact and preserved. Here too, the book also anchors some attention to the building of a replica vessel from the Viking-era.

There is plenty of interesting information in this book, though you won't find a glossary of nautical terms or a list of definitions to ship parts, just an index of picture credits. But that's the real delight in this book; it's fantastic photos, detailed drawings and intricate models of ships revealing them inside and out, new or old. The display of carvings and embellishments from lavishly decorated ships of the seventeenth century to the simple beauty of classic motorboats from the twentieth century, is an artistic combination of wind, wood and water.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this after polishing your SUNFISH . . ., February 1, 2004

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: WOODEN SHIP : The Art, History and Revival of Wooden Boatbuilding (Hardcover)

Except for the first few and last few pages, the water-going vessels depicted and analyzed in this fascinating book aren't "boats" -- they're definitely ships. Ships made of wood, developed by tradition and experiment, hand-shaped, pegged together, and amazingly seaworthy. Moreover, what you see here is not merely technical drawings or models -- though those are lovely -- but recreations and reconstructions of the real thing, from a Viking longship and the SUSAN CONSTANT (which made the 1607 voyage to Jamestown) to the BATAVIA and the AMSTERDAM, both Dutch East Indiamen. Also included in the analysis are several musuem ships, like the CHARLES W. MORGAN, and purpose-built modern wooden vessels, like the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE. This is a book all those intrigued by the history of sail power will want to own.