BOOKS Lone Voyager by Joseph E. Garland (Rockport, Mass., Nelson B. Robinson, 1979, 308 pp., $8.95). This new edition of Garland's biography of Howard Blackburn is both sound scholarship and armchair voyaging. Howard Blackburn was dory fishing from the Gloucester Schooner Grace L. Fears when he and his dory mate were separated from the schooner by a fierce winter storm. Although his friend perished from the cold, Blackburn managed to row ashore and survive. He lost most of his fingers in the process! Most men would not ever set foot aboard another boat again . Blackburn was not typical of most men. In later years, he twice sailed across the Atlantic in small boats and also voyaged the inland rivers and coasts of the United States. While ashore he ran a saloon that was the neighborhood gathering place for old seamen to swap tales and always a welcome haven for those who had a bit of hard luck. Blackburn always made sure they had a hot meal or a new pair of shoes. Today two of Howard Blackburn's boats are still with us. The Great Republic has been restored and is on display in Gloucester and the Cruising Club is owned and sailed by Joseph TED MILES Garland.
Mystic Seaport Museum: Watercraft by Maynard Bray (Mystic Connecticut, Mystic Seaport Museum, 1979, 280 pp., ill., $17.00 paper, $22.00 hardbound). This is an extraordinary book, to be read and savored by all who enjoy boats. An outstanding departure from conventional museum catalogues, it is in many ways the best presentation of watercraft information available today. Mr. Bray and Mystic live up to their excellent reputation. Reading this catalogue, one imagines he is actually taking a leisurely walk through the warehoused collection. Both large and small boats are included in the catalogue. The foremat and categories are well thought out and easy to use. Each entry is documented by a detailed explanation containing historic and technical information that will satisfy all but the most ardent boat enthusiasts. All of the 269 entries are accompanied by photographs, drawings, a suggested reading list, a condition statement, and a donor name and accessioning number. And, in the final section of the book there are fifty-eight single pages of boat plans from the collection-an unusual and helpful addition. For those who need more information, they can choose to ex-
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plore the suggested reading list or call the curator to make a date to go see for themselves! v. PAUL COYNE Mr. Coyne is Executive Director of the
Heritage Ship Guild of Philadelphia. New England Masts and The King's Broad Arrow Policy, by Samuel F. Manning (Kennebunk, Me., Thomas Murphy, 1979, 60 pp., illus., $4.95). The current first edition of this slender paperback is destined to become a collector's item. Its author-artist, an associate editor of and long-time illustrator for The National Fisherman, traces how beginning as early as 1609, England's pressing need for mast timber resulted in shiploads of white pine being sent from the Colonies. As England's demand for wood grew desperate in the late 17th century, a Crown appointee blazed all likely trees with the King's mark: a "broad arrow."
The present volume traces the history of the broad arrow policy, and traces it clearly and reasonably. But what turns a respectable job of research into an exciting book are Manning's black-andwhite illustrations. There are 16 major illustrations, done originally for the Maine public broadcasting system, complemented by 2 minor illustrations, the cover, and 4 useful maps. The illustrations enable any reader to follow the processes of those who labored in the King's broad arrow service: from prepar-
ing the ground to receive a fallen tree to the felling of that tree; from limbing the tree to twitching it down logging roads; from hauling it by oxen through town squares to launching it in, preferably, tidal waters; from loading it into mast ships through oversize ports in the stern to an interior scene of men at work in such ships. The illustrations are excellent-as one would expect from the illustrator of such solid books as Cape Breton Ships and Men, Ships Through History, and John Gardner's much-admired The Dory Book. They bring history to life and give us-literally-glimpses into the past. Manning tells us about an historical process and enables us to see that process. STEVEN H. RUBIN Shipwrecks Around New England, by William P. Quinn (Lower Cape Publishing Co., PO 901, Orleans, Ma. 02653, 1979, 230 pp., 375 ill., $30). This pictorial review of maritime disasters covers the most heavily traveled water routes on the Northeast Coast, from Novia Scotia to Sandy Hook, including the inland waters of Long Island
Boating's Best Books Excellent selection on history by Chapelle, Lubbock, Underhill and others. Send for catalog of over 500 titles-history, boatbuilding, design, navigation, cruising, fishing, cooking, etc. $2 refundable with first order. Books reviewed by SEA HISTORY are available at a 10% discount.
Tradewinds Press 0
P.O. Box29H Hillsdale, NJ 07642 SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1980