Two More Maritime Books 1900’s. These two books are titled “The Sailing Ships of New England Series Three” by George Francis Dow and “American Merchant Ships 1850 - 1900 Series Two” by Frederick C. Matthews. Both were published by the Marine Research Society in Salem, Mass. The Dow book was published in 1928 and only has one date on the title page and copyright page and no other printings, so it is a first edition, and the Matthews book is also a first edition because it was published in 1931 and has only one date on the title page and copyright page and no other printings. Dow was curator of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, and “Sailing Ships” has blue boards with gilt lettering on the spine, blank endpapers, a half-title, a frontis photograph of a painting called “Admiral” out of Yarmouth, the title page, copyright page, a two-page Preface, 45 pages about Shipbuilding in Massachusetts from the 1600’s to the 1800’s, 215 black and white plates that depict ships under sail (plates 556 to 770), a two-page list of Publications of the Marine Research Society in Salem at the end, and the book was printed by the Southworth Press in Portland, Maine. “American Merchant Ships” has blue boards with gilt lettering on the spine, blank endpapers with the bookplate of Edward John Mitton on the front paste-down and a gift inscription on the front flyleaf (”To Edward J. from Dad Christmas 1931”), a half-title, a frontis photograph of the “Great Admiral” from a painting by Charles R. Patterson, then the title page, the copyright page, a three-page list of Portraits of Ships, one page with a list of Portraits of the different Sea Captains, 333 pages of text, an Index that runs from 335 to page 358, a one-page list of Publications of the Marine Research Society, the book has a blue topstain (the top edge is blue, put there purposely by the printer) and the book was also printed by the Southworth Press in Portland, Maine. The ships were the successors of the old-time clipper ships and were built to carry much larger cargoes proportionate to their tonnage. “Sailing Ships” measures 10 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. wide, with a tight binding, clean pages and text and plates, and faint brown spots on just a couple of pages, the spine has some brown toning, and that’s it - the book is in very good shape otherwise. “American Merchant Ships” measures 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages and text, two tips have a tad of wear, and that’s it, and the two books provide a great background, great details about American ships in the 1600’s to 1800’s. (See Bill McBride’s “A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions” 1995). #157 #1619