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16. FINDING THE INFORMATION

Helpful Suggestions as to the Way to seek out any Available Information concerning a Particular Ship or Model.

To make a good scale model of any old-time ship necessitates a good deal of reliable information, especially such vital matters as the dimensions of the hull, the lengths of the yards and so forth. The general rig and proportion of the boat may be difficult to ascertain, and much of it may not be' obtainable at all!

At first the task will seem hopeless, but by patience and deduction much may be accomplished.

The first thing to do is to be sure of either the name and date of the ship, or at least its general type and period. This at least limits the search, in so far as it is of no use looking up records of ships of earlier date—hence any published matter prior to the date of the particular ship may for the time be disregarded.

Now how shall the search begin? Assuming the novice has taken the job in hand, begin by visiting the nearest museum which includes ship models, look up those of about the period in question and then have a chat with the Curator. He will often introduce the searcher to any available books or infor­mation and these should be carefully studied. Among the best known museums in Great Britain where old ship models are to be seen are the Science Museum, South Kensington, the United Services Museum, Whitehall,  the Royal Naval

Museum at Greenwich and the Admiralty Library in London. There are several fine collections in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and in several provincial towns. The libraries attached to these museums will more than likely provide some information on the subject generally.

Next in importance are the collections of old prints, of which most museums have examples. Very often a courteous request in writing to the Curator will receive a helpful reply and save the time and expense of a long train journey.

On the Continent of Europe, the Musee du Marine in the Louvre in Paris; The Technisches Hofschule in Hanover; and Germanic National Museum, Nuremburg; Museo Storico Navale, Venice; Museo Naval, Madrid; Nederlandsch His-torisch Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam; Hohenzollern Museum, Berlin; Prins Hendrik Maritime Museum, Rotterdam; Museum fur Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Lubeck; Kunstge-werbe Museum, Flensburg; Bergens Museum, Bergen; Metropolitan Museum; New York, U.S.A.; Kronborg Museum, Elsinore; Palazzo Bianco, Genoa—are all worthy of a visit and contain some fine specimens of old-time ship modelling.

The Mariners' Mirror, published in London, should be consulted, as it contains much of the greatest importance.

The next stage in the search is to peruse all the modern books on old ships; many of them are inexpensive and contain reproductions of old engravings which will be found most helpful. After that recourse must be had to contemporary literature, medallions, old inventories and so forth, until from one source and another every available bit of information can be pieced together and the work of preparing the drawings can be put in hand and the model commenced. It may well take months or years of research to gain even an approximate idea of the ship. Hence as a practical matter the novice is well advised to make a start with a model of some fairly well-known type or be content to follow the instructions and advice contained in this book.

A useful guide to some of the more helpful works, and sources of information is appended, but readers should note that many of the books are long since out of print and only available through second-hand book shops or in museums and libraries.

Seaman's Dictionary, Sir Henry Manwayring, 1644; modern edition, 1922, by the Navy Records Society.

A Treatise on Rigging. Circa 1625; modern edition 1921, by the Society for Nautical Research.

The Compleat Modellist.    Circa 1655, Thomas Miller.
Ship Builder's Assistant.    1711, William Sutherland.
The Sizes and Lengths of Riggings.    1655, Edward Hayward.
L'Architecture Navale.    1677, Le Sieur Dassie.
Architectura Navalis.    1629, J. Furtenbach.
L'Armata Navale.    1614, Pantera Pantero.
Ship Models.    1923, E. Keble Chatterton.
Sailing Ship Models.    1924, R. Morton Nance.
Old Ship Figure Heads and Sterns. 1925, L. G. Carr Laughton.
Sailing Ships at a Glance.    1927, Edward W. Hobbs.
Contemporary Scale Models of 17th Century. 1926, Henry B. Culver.
Le Musee de Marine du Louvre.    1883, Edmond Paris.
Modelle Alter Segelschiffe.    1926, August Koster.
Building Ships of War.    1689, Edward Battine.
Nueva Fabrica de Baxeles.    1691, Francisco A. Garrote.
Ships and Ways of other Days.    1923, E. Keble Chatterton.
Rigging of Ships in Days of Spritsail Topmast, 1600-1720, R.C. Anderson.