Farewell to the Tramps

(Cape Town: Dr. J.F. Midgley, 1982) 0620060107. 8vo; original grey boards; pictorial dustwrapper; pp. (xvi) + 120; several photographs. Dustwrapper rubbed, partially sunned, and very slightly worn at extremities of spine panel; earlier owner's name signed on front free endpaper; occasional minor fox spot. Very good condition. "This is a book mainly about ships which will not be seen anymore - old tramps which wound up on the scrapheap, fast freighters which were victims of wartime casualty, and others which were lost through shipwreck. Many were declared redundant. Since the demise of so many regular callers has created a great yearning among ship-lovers for a record of some of the great events of the past, this volume about cargo carrying vessels is of particular interest. The book is a successor to Salt in my Blood, and Ships that Pass, published by the same author in the 1970's and sold out in months. The author who spent nearly half a century as a maritime correspondent at the Cape, had intimate knowledge of the thousands of ships which circumnavigated the Cape, the owners, many of their masters, and the fascinating history of the vessels themselves. Much of this drama and romance has been captured in the pages which follow." .