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AUCTION 50: ANTIQUE MILITARIA, FALL 2024
Lot 183:
‘Traité de la Construction des Vaisseaux, avec des Eclaircissemens & Démonstrations touchant l’Ouvrage intitulé: Architectura Navalis Mercatoria’ or ‘Treatise on the Construction of Ships, with Clarifications & Demonstrations Concerning the Work Entitled: Architectura Navalis Mercatoria’ is one of the most important works on shipbuilding ever produced. At the beginning of the book’s writing, the author, Frederik Henrik af Chapman, was the Chief Naval Builder for the Swedish Archipelago Fleet. On commission from Duke Charles, future Charles XIII, he authored this work, a compilation of architectural drawings and information on over 60 contemporary vessels of all types, from large warships to small fishing vessels, including many of his own designs.
Chapman was a pioneer in the world of naval architecture and science and is widely considered to be the first naval architect and the first person to apply scientific methods to shipbuilding. Among other examples of his contributions, he was the first shipbuilder in Northern Europe to implement pre-fabrication methods in shipyards, he used scale models in a specially constructed pool to test the hydrodynamic properties of hull designs, and he applied new and complex forms of mathematics such as Simpson’s rules, this book being the first published record of their use in calculating approximate quadrature.
220 pp.; 20 Foldout Architectural Drawings
Brest or Paris, France – 1781
10 1/4 x 8 x 1 1/2 in., (26 x 20.3 x 3.8 cm.)
Condition: Good overall with signs of age and use. Covers well attached, with some wear at the hinges and spine. Expected minor foxing throughout with some rare signs of moisture. The 13th leaf was replaced in-period with a handwritten copy, as was plate 10.
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