Nautical History

We have two sections in the store about this general topic. For purposes of location, vintage books are labeled nautical history, and newer books are put in the Ships, Boats, & Submarines section.

To most of us (the uninitiated), the sailing ships of the past are a thing of myth and romance. We see paintings of graceful ships' hulls cutting through majestic waves, rigging taut and sails billowing. We imagine the freedom of the sea and it stirs something deep within us. There's a yearning to test our mettle, feel our smallness under the open sky and on the open sea, experience the power of the waves as they crash on the deck during a gale.

A lot of nautical fiction tends to focus on the narrow European "age of sail," especially the age of discovery and the epic sea battles of the Napoleanic wars. But, of course, Maritime history is much broader than that. It's an overarching subject that includes lots of topics, like fishing, whaling, international maritime law, naval history, the history of ships, ship design, shipbuilding, the history of navigation, the history of the various maritime-related sciences (oceanography, cartography, hydrography, etc.), sea exploration, maritime economics and trade, shipping, yachting, seaside resorts, the history of lighthouses and aids to navigation, maritime themes in literature, maritime themes in art, the social history of sailors and passengers and sea-related communities.

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93 Items found Print
Active Filters: Used Books & Materials
All About Sailing the Seven Seas
All About Books #40
by Ruth Brindze
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Fishermen
by Albert Cook Church (photography), text by James B. Connolly
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic
by Paul C. Morris, foreword by Edouard Stackpole
1979 Reprint from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Ship Models and How to Build Them
by V. R. Grimwood, foreword by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Arts of the Sailor
by Hervey Garrett Smith
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Blackbeard
by Dan Parry
from Thunder's Mouth Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-5th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Boatbuilding
by Howard I. Chapelle
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Chapman Piloting
by Elbert S. Maloney
57th edition from Hearst Marine Books
for Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Clear for Action
by Foster Hailey and Milton Lancelot
Printing D from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Clipper Ships
by David R. MacGregor
from Argus Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Decorative Arts of the Mariner
by Gervis Frere-Cook (editor)
from Little, Brown & Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Deep-Water Sail
by Harold A. Underhill
from Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Design Line: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
by Chris Oxlade, Edited by Jenny Broom, Illustrated by Mike Lemanski
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Destroyers for Great Britain
by Arnold Hague
Revised & Expanded from US Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Disasters at Sea
by Milton H. Watson, foreword by Frank O. Braynard
from Patrick Stephens
for Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Echoes of the Whistle
by Gerald Rushton, introduction by Leonard G. McCann
from Douglas & McIntyre, Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Experts' Book of Boating
by Ruth Brindze (editor), illustrated by Fred Wellbrock
from Prentice Hall
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Historic Sailing Ships - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tre Tryckare Company
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.24 $2.00 (1 in stock)
History of the American Sailing Navy
by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 - Graphic Novel
by Lauren Tarshis, art by Haus Studio
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Illustrated History of Ships and Boats
by Lionel Casson
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
In Quest of the Sun
The Mariners Library #30
by Alain Gerbault
from Rupert Hart-Davis
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Joshua Barney
by Ralph D. Paine
from Century Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Keystone Battlewagon - U.S.S. Pennsylvania (BB-38)
Warship Series #2
by Myron J. Smith
1st edition
for 7th-10th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Last Grain Race
by Eric Newby
1st Printing from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$32.00 (1 in stock)
Lexington Goes Down
by A. A. Hoehling
from Prentice Hall
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Ships
by John Gorley Bunker
from US Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Lighthouses of America
by Mina Lewiton, Illustrated by Howard Simon
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.50 (1 in stock)
Lighthouses of North America!
by Lisa Trumbauer, illustrated by Michael Kline
from Williamson Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$6.50 (2 in stock)
Log of "Bob" Bartlett
by Captain Robert A. Bartlett
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Long Ships: A Saga of the Viking Age
by Frans G. Bengtsson, translated from the Swedish by Michael Meyer
7th Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$60.00 (1 in stock)
Longitude
by Dava Sobel
1st edition from Penguin Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Manual of Celestial Navigation
by Arthur A. Ageton
from D. Van Nostrand Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Mariner of the North
by George Palmer Putnam
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Mayflower II
from Plimoth Plantation Publication
for 6th-12th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Medley of Mast and Sail 2
by Alex A. Hurst
from US Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Men-of-War
by Patrick O'Brian
1st Us Edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 5th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Naval Warfare
Civil War Chronicles
by John C. Wideman
from MetroBooks
for 7th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Of Yachts and Men
by William Atkin, illustrations by Charles G. Davis, introduction by Charles F. Chapman
from Sheridan House
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
On the Shores of the Great Sea
Story of the World Series #1
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (2 in stock)
Pacific Lumber Ships
by Gordon Newell and Joe Williamson
1st edition from Superior Publishing Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Paddle-Wheel Days in California
from Stanford University Press
for 8th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pathfinder of the Seas
by John W. Wayland
from Garrett & Massie
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial History of American Ships
by John & Alice Durant
from A.S. Barnes and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial History of Outboard Motors
by W.J. Webb with Robert W. Carrick
from Renaissance Editions
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$48.00 (1 in stock)
Piloting, Seamanship, and Small Boat Handling
by Charles F. Chapman
from Motor Boating
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pirate Ship: 1660-1730
by Angus Konstam, illustrated by Tony Bryan
from Osprey Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Pirates
by Nigel Cawthorne
from Chartwell Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Posted Missing
by Alan Villiers
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast
by R.C. Anderson
from Marine Research Society
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing the Unknown
by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
from Creative Editions
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing-Ship
by Romola & R. C. Anderson
from Bonanza Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages
by Valerie Petrillo
1st edition from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
San Francisco Bay
by John Haskell Kemble
from Cornell Maritime Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
San Francisco Bay
by John Haskell Kemble
1978 Reissue from Bonanza Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sea and River Pilots
by Nancy Martin
from Terence Dalton Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude
by Louise Borden
1st edition from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Life in Nelson's Time
by John Masefield
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Trip in Clipper Ship Days
by Mary Matthews Bray
from Gorham Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ships
by Tom McCluskie
from Chartwell Books
for 10th-Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ships
Man in Motion
by C. Hamilton Ellis
from Peebles Press International
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ships and Boats
by Chris Oxlade
from Shooting Star Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Ships and Cargoes
by Joseph Leeming
1st edition from Doubleday, Page & Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ships at Work
by Mary Elting; illustrated by Manning De V. Lee
from Harvey House, Inc., Publishers
for 4th-6th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Ships Through the Ages
by Douglas Lobley
from Octopus Books Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sons of Sinbad
by Alan Villiers
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Steam and Sail in Britain and North America
by Rear Admiral P.W. Brock and Basil Greenhill
1st edition from Pyne Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Steamboat South
by Madye Lee Chastain
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Old Ironsides
by Norman Richards, illustrated by Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Ships
by Frank O. Braynard, paintings by Fouille
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Clipper Ships
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Two Years Before the Mast
by Frank L. Beals, illustrated by E.E. King, original story by Richard H. Dana Jr.
Adapted & Retold from Benj. H. Sanborn & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Tall Ships
by Maldwin Drummond, illustrated by Mike Willoughby, Foreword by H.R.H the Duke of Edinburgh
First American Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Tall Ships of the World
by C. Keith Wilbur
from The Globe Pequot Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ted Brewer Explains Sailboat Design
by Ted Brewer
from International Marine / McGraw-Hill
for Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Thirty Years of The American Neptune
by Ernest S. Dodge, editor
from Harvard University Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
This People's Navy
by Kenneth J. Hagan
from Free Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Twentieth Century Sea Power
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$1.00 (1 in stock)
Victorian & Edwardian Sailing Ships
by Basil Greenhill & Ann Giffard
1981 Reprint from US Naval Institute Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
We, the Navigators
by David Lewis
from University Press of Hawaii
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Westcoasters
by Tom Henry
from Harbour Publishing
for Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Western Port Ferries Past and Present
by Arthur E. Woodley
from Hill of Content
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
What's Inside? Boats
What's Inside?
from DK Publishing
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Winning the War with Ships
by Admiral Emory S. Land, introduction by Gen. Charles A. Lindbergh
1st edition from Robert M. McBride & Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$38.40 (1 in stock)
Wooden Ships and Iron Men
by Clifford Lindsey Alderman
from Walker and Company
for 8th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Yankee Clippers
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Follett Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Yankee Sails the Nile
by Irving and Electa Johnson
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Yankee Skippers to the Rescue
by Felix Riesenberg, Jr.
1969 Reprint from Books for Libraries Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)