NANNINGA, Jan Abrahams.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Aanwijzing ter verbetering van den scheepsbouw en der zeevart ("Instruction for the improvement of shipbuilding and maritime navigation"). First edition, preferred second issue, corrected and issued with newly engraved plates. This treatise employs complex geometry and physics to explain how merchant and military ships can be built to sail faster and closer to the wind, last longer in storms, and steer more smoothly. We have traced five institutional copies, of which only one is outside the Netherlands or Germany.Nanninga (1772-1840) was the city architect of Emden, a city known for its significant maritime heritage. He was also a member of the city's Society for Natural History. In 1812 he planned to publish his treatise on the theory of naval architecture in Amsterdam. However, the plates were printed with serious errors, and a false dedication was inserted by the publishers. Despite his protestations, they then distributed these uncorrected copies. He personally redrew the plates for this issue, and as he wrote in the preface, "Because I was deceived by the printers of this work, E. Maaskamp and C. H. Roseboom in Amsterdam, I was unable to publish it sooner, and thus found the opportunity to publish a second work - titled De practicale Zeeman - as well, and to have it printed here in Emden by H. Woortman, along with this preface" (p. viii).The new plates show cross-sections of ships and sails, diagrams of the physics of pulley systems and anchors, and geometric illustratio

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.