First Dutch translation of an important work on shipbuilding with large plates depicting the construction of ships. It was the first manual for students of naval engineering, written by the founder of the school for naval engineering and architecture at the Louvre. The work rarely appears on the market, as we have only been able to find four other copies in sales records of the past hundred years.
The present work is a translation of Élémens de larchitecture navale; ou traité practique de la construction des vaisseaux (Paris, 1752) by Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782), which discusses shipbuilding. The text includes many tables and calculations concerning, for example, the proportions of a ship, the number of canons most convenient for the various types and sizes of ships, and the resistance and displacement of the water. The plates show fascinating cross-sections and transverse sections of various parts of a ship, a plan of the principal deck, detailed figures showing the dimensions and shapes of the various beams and joists, with extended tables of the various measures. The present work is a re-issue of the first Dutch edition, published in 1757. Apart from the title-page, the two editions are identical.
The edges of the boards are slightly scuffed, with some loss of material at the head and foot of the spine. The work is uncut, the outer margins of the plates are slightly frayed and soiled, with a tear in plates 14 and 22, slightly affecting the image, water stains in the margins of some of the leaves, not affecting the text. Otherwise in good condition. Cat. NHSM II, p. 748; STCN 176936017 (6 copies); cf. Bierens de Haan 1895 (1757 issue); Polak 2859 (French ed.); Pritchard, J., From shipwright to naval constructor. In: Technology and culture, 28:1, p.16.