This colourful volume presents over 50 of the best American marine paintings and artefacts from the New-York Historical Society's impressive maritime art collection. The works range in date from 1750 to 1940, and include paintings by Thomas Birch, John Frederick Kensett and Charlton T. Chapman, and objects such as scrimshaws and navigational instruments. An essay by curator Linda S. Ferber places the works within their wider historical and cultural narrative. The works are arranged in nine thematic sections, covering a range of subjects, including the Anglo-Dutch tradition in American marine art; the War of 1812 with its great sea battles and heroes; romantic and idealised visions of the sea; the merchant marine and maritime trade; views of the Hudson River and the great Port of New York; Gilded Age nostalgia for the great age of sail, with its clipper ships and majestic wind-jammers; and maritime art and crafts.
