The American Fishing Schooners 1825-1935

by Howard Irving Chapelle

The evolution of the American fishing schooner from the 18th century to the last working and racing schooners of the mid-1930s is recounted in this book. The designers, builders and crews are discussed, and 137 plans of schooners show graphically the development of the type. An important feature of the book is its illustrated glossary-appendix, which covers items of hull construction and equipment, rigging and gear, colour and carving, and includes notes by the builders and riggers themselves.

Genres: Nautical

690 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1973

Reviews

[Christopher Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know something about how schooners were built in the age of sail, this is the book. It is a bit of a slog to read straight through (which I did), but that is unnecessary because it is a reference book, and a fine one at that. The slog is because he gives a page or more of description and history to each American fishing schooner built, for which he has information. When I finally got past the last entry, lo and behold there was an alphabetical encyclopedic collection of sketches and descriptions of the myriad parts of a schooner, such as "gammon", and "crosstrees", etc. It's the jargon that keeps many subjects inaccessible to a broad audience, and nautical subjects are among the worst. This book can help clear up the confusion for someone who wants to dive in to sailing ship studies.