Spars and Rigging: From Nautical Routine, 1849 by John McLeod Murphy and WN Jeffers

Relying on his own experience in the United States Navy during the early and mid 19th century and consulting his contemporaries in the maritime profession, midshipman John Murphy published this book to provide an accurate portrait of a ship’s rigging and spars (masts or yardarms supporting or extending a ship’s sail).

Spars and Rigging: From Nautical Routine is an important book on maritime history, the study describes every improvement made in seafaring equipment up to 1849. The thorough text is accompanied by more than 200 clear illustrations and diagrams of period equipment that cover everything from anchors to bowlines, bobstays to booms, lift blocks to cat-head stoppers, to a flying jib and jackstays, top-gallant rigging to halliards, nippers, and topsail buntlines.

An authentic look at the nautical world of the mid-nineteenth century, Spars and Rigging is an ideal reference for ship model builders, naval historians, and armchair sailors. Rigging tends to be one of the more complicated parts of building model ships, we highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles with the intricacies of this part of a build. this would also be a good gift for the young Scout in the family as well to help them with their knot tying skills!

This Dover Publications 144 page paperback reprint of The Ship Model Society of Rhode Island 1933 edition.