The Wooden Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy AD 897-1860 by E. H. H. Edward Hunter Holmes Archibald

The Wooden Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy AD 897-1860 by E. H. H. [Edward Hunter Holmes] Archibald lands on the shelves of my shop.

London: Blandford Press, 1968, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Drawings; Colour Drawings; Tables; Illustrated endpapers and blanks;

From the cover: This splendidly illustrated book presents the history of the development of the wooden fighting ship from the time of King Alfred until the third quarter of the nineteenth century, which saw the end of traditional wooden ship-building for the Royal Navy.

The author is the curator of oil paintings at the National Maritime Museum, and so is well placed to use its unique records and collections. He has worked in close collaboration with the artist, Ray Woodward, who has produced meticulous drawings, working from Admiralty builders draughts and from models and pictures.

Besides the general text, the book contains copious lists of establishments of ships and guns, a summary of British naval events to 1860, appendices on flags and types of shot, and a glossary of naval terms.

A companion volume will deal with the development of iron and steel-hulled warships from their first appearance in the middle of the last century until the present time.

Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Dust wrapper is a little age-tanned with the laminate rippling at the margin of the upper panel. Text complete, clean and tight.

Blind-stamped Blue boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 174 pages. Index. Bibliography. 12¼” x 9″.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

English Dolls, Effigies And Puppets by Alice K. Kate Early

English Dolls, Effigies And Puppets by Alice K. [Kate] Early lands on the shelves of my shop.

London: B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1955, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Black & White Plates; Colour frontispiece;

From the cover: THE best way of giving an idea of what this book is about is to mention some of the chapter-headings. Starting with the Dolls Ancestors, these include Portrait Dolls, Queen Victorias Dolls, the Wooden Doll, the China Doll, Fashion Dolls, Puppets and Marionettes, and Punch. It will be seen that the scope of the book is a wide one and that it includes not merely dolls as toys, but all those other doll-like representations which piety or superstition have produced. But dolls are primarily playthings and it is in that light that Mrs. Early regards them. She has herself one of the most considerable private collections of old English dolls and she has long studied the subject from an historical point of view. For this reason her book will be found particularly useful by other doll collectors. The information which it gives, often for the first time, about the makers, English and Continental, of dolls at each period, their varying techniques for, e. g. , faces, hair and costume, and above all the 100 and more fully annotated illustrations all this will be found invaluable by the collector who wishes to put a date or place of origin to the dolls in her own collection. In addition, the Appendices, with their data about the Montanari family and the notable London doll-makers and toy-sellers, form a particularly useful contribution to the collectors hitherto limited fund of knowledge. But of course Mrs. Early is too sensible to regard dolls as subjects only for an unfeeling scholarship. She knows too well how much love has been lavished on them by their owners, what pretty and interesting objects they almost always are in themselves. For the lover of old dolls as well as for their collector her book will be a most desirable possession.

Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Unlaminated dust wrapper a little edgeworn and faded with heavier wear to the spine ends. Pages lightly age-tanned with scattered, light, spoting. A good copy.

226 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9″ X 6″.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

Easter Eggs: A Collector’s Guide by Victor Houart

Easter Eggs: A Collector’s Guide by Victor Houart lands on the shelves of my shop.

Souvenir Press, 1978, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Colour Photographs;

From the cover: Easter Eggs are a comparatively new field for the collector- but Easter Eggs themselves have origins far beyond the Christian festival they have marked for a thousand years. For as Victor Houart points out in this, the first comprehensive guide to Easter Eggs through the ages, the egg is a symbol of the mystery of lifes renewal as old as human culture itself.

The author traces the development of the humble vegetable-dyed eggs hidden by villagers all over Europe even to this day for their children to find on Easter morning, to the magnificent jewel-encrusted creations of Faberge for the Tsar of all the Russias. He describes rare ornamented ostrich eggs preserved in French churches since the middle ages; eggs painted by Boucher, Watteau and Lancret for the 17th-century French court, surprise eggs, containing miniature pastoral scenes of the 18th century; enameled and gold and jeweled eggs, first produced in Paris and later in 19th-century Russia for the Imperial family.

And parallel with this court tradition, the author finds another, the folk tradition of decorating eggs by hand that still survives in Russia (especially in the Ukraine) in Hungary and Rumania and Poland to this day. This tradition perhaps reached its climax in the magnificent 19th-century papier-mâché eggs made in Russia with their rich, glowing colours and folk-rooted designs.

Easter Eggs not only describes the processes by which all these eggs are made but helps the collector to identify place and period of origin. It also places the ancient tradition of the Easter egg in the setting of the folk traditions of the spring in Europe and the Middle East from which the eggs still draw their own unique meaning.

Lavishly illustrated with a series of brilliant plates in colour and black-and-white, this is a book to be treasured and enjoyed.

Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Price Clipped. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper with some short, closed, tears. Pages very gently age-tanned.

Black boards with Silver titling to the Spine. 128 pages. 8¾” x 7″.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

Making Wooden Toys for All Ages by Bryan Mapstone

Making Wooden Toys for All Ages by Bryan Mapstone lands on the shelves of my shop.

David & Charles, 1989, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Colour Photographs; Diagrams;

From the cover: Wooden Toys for All Ages is Bryan Mapstones second wooden toymaking book. As with his Wooden Action Toys, it is full of new, varied and interesting projects for you to construct. These toys have been carefully chosen to cover a wide range of interests and to suit children of all ages. Some are designed to be used in conjunction with commercially available toys such as the Rescue Centre and Space Port NASUS 5.

The skills required to make the projects are as varied as the toys themselves. With no woodworking experience at all you will be able to start with the simple-to-make, yet very effective, Dolls Roqking Cradle and Bunk Beds. As your confidence grows, progress through the Hobby Horse and Dolls Buggy to the Off-road Racer Outfit and ultimately the spirit of America Wrecker Truck.

This new selection of toy projects will provide many hours of constructive pleasure for the woodworker of the family and years of fun for the kids. You will save money by making toys for relatives as well as your own children when Christmas and birthdays come around, and also provide favourites to hand down through the family.

Full colour photographs, step-by-step instructions, plans and cutting lists are given for all the items, together with helpful general advice on use of tools, methods, materials, finishing techniques and a beginners guide to understanding drawings.

Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Would be Very Good were it not for the circling of several of the page numbers on the contents list. Text complete, clean and tight otherwise.

Blue boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 172 pages. Index. 9¾” x 7″.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!