Fore & Aft Craft and Their Story; An Account of the Fore & Aft Rig from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, c1927. Second Edition. Hardcover. Good. [6], 347, [1] pages. Color frontis. With over 150 illustrations and plans. Glossary. Index. Ex library with few library stamps and markings. Ex. LeRoy E. Kimball Collection of the Rose Memorial Library of Stony Point, New York. Cover has some wear and soiling. Some edge soiling. Edward Keble Chatterton (10 September 1878 - 31 December 1944) was a prolific writer who published around a hundred books, pamphlets and magazine series, mainly on maritime and naval themes. He undertook a number of small-boat voyages through the English Channel and the Netherlands; out of these voyages came magazine articles and books describing the passages as well as books on the maritime art collections of the Low Countries. In First World War, Chatterton joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (R.N.V.R.), ultimately commanding a Motor Launch flotilla at Queenstown in Ireland. He describes these years in Q-Ships and their Story, The Auxiliary Patrol and Danger Zone: The Story of the Queenstown Command . He left the service in 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. A member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, he carried out a multi-season voyage to the Mediterranean through the French canals. He described these in a further series of books: his journeys on the Canal de Nantes à Brest are outlined in Through Brittany in "Charmina": From Torbay to the Bay of Biscay in a 6-Tonner, journeys on the Canal du Midi are described in To the Mediterranean in "Charmina", and journeys along the French Riviera are described in "Charmina" on the Riviera. Excerpt: Some years ago I published this volume under the title Fore and Aft; the Story of the Fore & Aft Rig from the Earliest Times to the Present Day., which the press and public were kind enough to receive with such enthusiasm that it has long since been out of print. As the demand has continued insistent, it has been decided to reprint the book, and it now appears under the title Fore & Aft Craft and Their Story. It was pointed out that many persons whose interests were not closely connected with the sea failed to grasp immediately the character of the book from its original title, and it is hoped that under its new name this interesting story of one of the most important developments in maritime progress may reach a still larger section of the public.