Abstract
THIS small volume reproduces a paper read before the Viking Club Society, and its appearance will be welcomed by all who are interested in the history and development of shipbuilding. Although it deals chiefly with Scandinavian records and discoveries, it contains an excellent summary of Greek and Latin references to ancient ships, and does not leave unnoticed much older Egyptian types. In short it is a scholarly performance, and the writer has a full appreciation of technical developments which have accompanied progress in shipbuilding. Wide reading and research must have been undertaken to provide the materials; they have been dealt with in a terse but clear style, and the result is of permanent value as a book of reference and a bibliography of the subject. An excellent glossarial index is appended. The only regret one feels is that there are no illustrations. Tht rock-carvings of ancient ships found in Egypt, Sweden, and Norway are described and compared; but simple illustrations would have emphasised the deductions made by the author. Again, the details of methods of construction which Mr. Magnusson gives are readily understood by experts in shipbuilding, but would be grasped by general readers also if diagrams of a simple nature had been given. The ancient ships found in Scandinavia and preserved in museums might also have been pictured with great advantage. Of course size and cost would be increased if this were done, but that action is well worth the consideration of both author and publisher, as the permanent value of the book would be greatly increased thereby, and its place in the libraries of all interested in shipbuilding would be assured.
Notes on Shipbuilding and Nautical Terms of Old in the North.
By E. Magnusson. Pp. 62. (London: A. Moring, Limited, 1906.) Price 1s. net.
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W., W. Notes on Shipbuilding and Nautical Terms of Old in the North . Nature 74, 77–78 (1906). https://doi.org/10.1038/074077a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/074077a0
