Jane's Fighting Ships 1926; Founded in 1897 by Fred T. Jane Thirtieth Year of Issue

London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd, 1926. Presumed First printing this issue. Hardcover. As is A thoroughly disreputable copy of this very scarce work.. Quarto/Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 12.25 inches. 54 [3 pages at the back] pages of advertisements. 448 pages. Profusely illustrated. Substantial technical data provided. Front cover separated by present. Spine gone. Covers very worn, torn and soiled. Jane's 1926 aircraft book order form and Romance of navigation order forms bound in. This is a large and heavy book and would require additional shipping charges if sent outside of the United States. Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ships' names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Each edition describes and illustrates warships of different national naval and paramilitary forces, providing data on their characteristics. The first issue was illustrated with Jane's own ink sketches--photos appeared with the third volume in 1900. The present title was adopted in 1905. It was originally published by John Frederick Thomas Jane as Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships, in order to assist naval officers and the general public in playing naval wargames. It is a unit of Jane's Information Group, which is now owned by IHS. Ten early editions of Jane's (those of 1898, 1905-06, 1906-07, 1914, 1919, 1924, 1931, 1939, 1944-45, and 1950-51) were reissued in facsimile reprints by Arco Publishing starting in 1969. All of these appeared in the "landscape" format that characterized the series until the 1956/57 edition, while from 1957/58 the present "portrait" layout was adopted, thus matching the sister Jane's publication on aircraft. Oscar Parkes OBE (8 October 1885 - 24 June 1958) was a Royal Navy surgeon, naval historian, marine artist, and editor of Jane's Fighting Ships from 1918 to 1935. He was an associate of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. The Imperial War Museum and the National Maritime Museum have permanent collections of his artwork. His book British Battleships: "Warrior", 1860 to "Vanguard", 1950. A History of Design, Construction and Armament is regarded as a definitive source. Parkes joined the Royal Navy on 25 February 1915, on a temporary commission as a surgeon. His talent for spotting ships sometimes from aircraft came to be recognized, and towards the end of the First World War he served in the Naval Intelligence Division under Admiral Sir Reginald Hall at the Admiralty. While there he worked on the design of Q-ships. Parkes was demobilized in 1919, became an official naval artist, and joined the Imperial War Museum as director of their naval photographic section. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire for "valuable services in H.M. Hospital Ships during the War and at the R.N. Hospitals, Chatham and Plymouth" on 22 August 1919. In 1918, Parkes was appointed an editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, a post he held till 1935. At first, he was joint-editor with Maurice Prendergast, and from 1922 to 1930 with Francis McMurtrie. From 1930 to 1935 he was sole editor. The last edition of Jane's Fighting Ships he was involved with was the December 1934 issue. Parkes' book Ships of the Royal Navy was first published in 1922. It would be reprinted in seven revised editions the next 15 years, and had a change of title to Ships of the Royal Navies (British Commonwealth of Nations) in 1935. In 1929, Sampson Low published the first edition of Parkes' book The World's Warships. Aside from his role as editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, Parkes contributed many naval articles to the Navy League Magazine, the Society for Nautical Research's academic journal for maritime history, the Mariner's Mirror, and other journals. After 32 years of research, Parkes' definitive book British Battleships: "Warrior", 1860 to "Vanguard", 1950. A History of Design, Construction.