Print Archives

The following links are for the antique print section only.  If there is no navigation bar at the left, click HERE to go to the main site.

The items in this section are not for sale, but will remain here for reference.  All the antique prints on this site are archived on CD in a high resolution printable format and will eventually be available. 

Yarmouth Quay, England c. 1840.  The largest vessels in these three engravings are brigs, which leads me to believe that Yarmouth was active in costal and continental trading.  In the days of cotton sails, rot was an ever present problem, which required the sails to be set for drying on windless sunny days.  These two steel engravings show the view from the bridge; river boats with folding masts can be seen heading in that direction.  If anyone has more specific information about the small craft, please let me know.

The entrance to Yarmouth with a leeboard sloop leaving the harbor.  The boat in the foreground is weighing an anchor, who's cable is coming from the sloop.  In order to get out of the narrow entrance, a boat would drop an anchor and the larger vessels could kedge themselves out far enough to catch some wind.  Notice how all the seawalls are boarded over to minimize the damage from running into them.

The following 10 copper engravings from 1790 are English engravings of French ports. They have wonderful detail, which can be best seen from the archived CD and viewed on the computer.  This one is the port of Dieppe.  

Havre de Grace. 

Rochelle. The ship in the foreground is at anchor drying its sails.  There are some guys on the yards.

Rochefort. The ship on the left has a barge laying along side with a crane stepping the main mast.  Once the lower masts are in all the upper masts can be swayed aloft from deck by the crew.

Bourdeaux, taking in stores.

Brest. The ship on the left is heavily laden and there are lots of guys aloft preparing to set sail while the wind is favorable. There are some ships in the distance having their masts stepped.

St. Malo.  Notice the guy on the carriage throwing a scrap to a dog.

Port L'Orient.  The ship on the left is having its water line charred to help keep away the barnacles and worms.  The rather curious crane has a guy being lowered on the cable.

Nantz. The ship that appears to be on fire is careened over and having its bottom charred.

Marseilles.

Fog on the Grand Banks c. 1880.  Although the mizzen cannot be seen it is probably a ship.   She has double topsails.  The starboard fore course studdingsail boom is hauled out but the crew is probably taking in the studdingsails in order to be a little more maneuverable, having just come out of the fog and found themselves in amongst lots of fishing boats.  The two fishermen are in a great little Grand Banks dory with the schooner nearby. 

Texel Island 1849.  

The Jeff  Borden 1875  7" X 10" . Original text

  The Victoria 1843.

Original text The Victoria has a spritsail yard even though the invention of the dolphin striker made them obsolete about 40 years earlier.  They probably didn't even have a sail to set on the spritsail yard, since all the other head gear would interfere with it.  This is a very early clipper.

  The George Griswold 1863 10" X 15"

 A clipper with double topsails is being towed into an English port.

The Fortified Cliffs of Alava  This beautiful steel engraving is dated 1843 and is in excellent condition. The image is 5"X7 1/2" on 8"X10" heavy paper.

City of Waterford, Ireland. 1831  The image is 4" X 6" on 8" X 10" heavy stock. 

Lighthouse

Im Harfen NYC  A German steel engraving of a dock scene in NYC from about 1870. The image is 6"X9" on 9 1/2"X13" medium weight paper with nothing on the reverse.

The United States squadron under Com. Baimbridge 1815.

The first view of Com. Perry's victory.

The second view of Com. Perry's victory.

Com. Macdonough's victory on Lake Champlain.

The Chicago 1890 10" X 15" 

Original text The days of sail in the navy are just about over.  The rig has been reduced to a minimum and would be used during emergencies.

  The whaleback steamer C.W. Metmore 1891 7" X 10" 

The Artic 1854 7" X 10" 

Original text

The Mississippi 1853 6" X 10" 

 Even thought there are boats coming and going, she is in the final  stages of tacking.  In another few seconds, as soon as the main fills,  the fore will be hauled around and she will fall off on a starboard tack.

The State of Indiana. 7" X 10" 

The City of Rome1881 6" X 10"  Original text

The English racing yacht, Shark, 1855.  6"X 9". 

The Racer 1851 6" X 10" 

Original text They probably just tacked and haven't gotten the main course set yet.  The course is typically clued up while tacking to keep it from fouling on things.

The City of Mobile 1856 6" X 10" 

Original text Almost all sail is set; they still have room for the skysails and studdingsails but those sails are a lot more work to set and would only be used if they were going to be on that course for a long time. This is not a war ship but is painted to look like it has gun ports.

Fishing boats on the lagoon, Venice . The image is 6" X 9" on 8" X 11" heavy card. This is a beautiful steel engraving in excellent condition.

Triomphe de Dequesn . A 5"X7" image on 7"X10 1/2" medium paper with nothing on the reverse. This is a late 19th century French steel engraving of a 17th century painting. It is in very good condition with no foxing.

Hurst Castle 1837  The image is 4"X6" on 8"X11" heavy paper.  This is a very detailed steel engraving with some foxing. 

The Chanticleer, Edgar and Shannon 1862 10" X 15"

Original text These ships are laying at anchor with their sails hanging out to dry.

The HMS Nile. 1855 7"X 9".  Crimean War.

The Constitution 1879 7' X 10"

Original text The constitution ran aground but by this time she was reduced to just hauling things.  The text is very interesting.

Send an Email