Learning the Ropes: An Apprentice in the Last of the Windjammers

John Murray, 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine Condition/Near Fine. Firmly bound, clean unmarked pages which are slightly age toned at the edges; slight creasing to upper edge of jacket, slight age browning to rear. Eric Newby boarded the Moshulu in 1938 as a fresh faced 18-year-old eager to experience life at sea on a sailing ship.Learning the Ropes is a photographic narrative of the voyage Newby embarked on. His black-and-white pictures tell the story of everyday life for those on board perhaps enhanced by the very ad-hoc nature in which he set about taking the photographs. He was not a trained photographer and would take his pictures after a long shift working on deck when often the foremost thing on his mind was trying to catch up on lost sleep. In many ways the innocence of the birth of these photographs adds to their historical importance. Newby has captured a glimpse of life on board a sailing ship right at its death, akin to the work done in at the beginning of the century where many traditional folk songs where written down before the last people with the songs in their heads died.A 26-page written introduction provides a fascinating insight into the time period followed by 95 pages of truly stunning photography 144 pages. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Ships & the Sea; ISBN/EAN: 9780719556364. Inventory No: dscf11197. . 9780719556364