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  3. Cambridge Library Collection - The Nautical Magazine

The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, published monthly at the price of one shilling. It aimed to advance 'the safety of seamen', with a focus on the merchant marine, and a readership of professional seafarers. The founding editor, A. B. Becher (1796–1876), served for many years under the distinguished hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort, and the magazine reflected Beaufort's interests by reporting on new charts, research on weather and the oceans, astronomy and navigation, and statistics on wrecks and the Lifeboat Institution. The content regularly included serialised accounts of voyages, descriptions of distant countries, notes on new shipping regulations, and discussion of the latest technologies. There were also reports on current affairs such as (during the Victorian period) the searches for Sir John Franklin's lost Arctic expedition, the Crimean War and the Suez Canal project. Astute editorial decisions ensured that the content mirrored the evolving concerns of readers, enabling 'the Nautical' to remain popular for nearly two centuries. It is a fascinating source of data, news and opinions for maritime, economic and social historians, genealogists, and shipping enthusiasts.

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46 results in Cambridge Library Collection - The Nautical Magazine

Page 1 of 3

The Nautical Magazine for 1875
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1875
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1875 volume is again dominated by reports on the Merchant Shipping Bill and debates on seaworthiness, with the editor continuing to prefer 'personal responsibility' to 'Plimsolecisms' and 'grandmotherly supervision' by the government. Serials focus on the economies of the British colonies, Atlantic shipping lines and emigration to South America, but fiction no longer features. Other topics include the opening of the Royal Naval Museum at Greenwich, innovations such as steel hawsers and desalination apparatus for producing drinking water, a proposal for generating power from wave action, and suggestions for using rats as a tasty and economical food source.

The Nautical Magazine for 1874
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1874
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1874 volume continues the previous year's attacks on attempts by Samuel Plimsoll to introduce seaworthiness inspections and other safety regulations, arguing for 'individual responsibility' rather than 'maternal interference by the State in the business concerns of daily life'. In addition to covering these debates, this volume concludes the series of articles on 'great ports' and begins one on 'our colonies'. It also contains the latest statistics on shipbuilding, substantial updates on steam technology, notes on a fascinating selection of court cases, and a song claimed to be highly effective in teaching trainee seamen the 'rule of the road at sea'.

The Nautical Magazine for 1873
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1873
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The volume for 1873 continues the new policy of reporting on learned societies and legal matters. Technical aspects of iron ships, steam engines and lifeboats feature prominently, and scientific discussions cover the polar regions, the transit of Venus, and tsunamis. A series of articles describes 'our great ports', including Liverpool, Newcastle, Dublin and Southampton. However, the volume is dominated by an increasingly scathing editorial response to Samuel Plimsoll's proposed legislation against unseaworthiness and overloading, while Lloyds of London's new rule of freeboard is described as 'a dead imposition on shipowners and of no real benefit to the sailor'.

The Nautical Magazine for 1876
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1876
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The exceptionally long volume for 1876 devotes much space to the Merchant Shipping Act of that year, and to other legal matters including the recent history of legislation relating to merchant ships, rules for the loading of cargos, and the prevention of collisions at sea. It contains statistics on the year's shipbuilding activity, details of the fleets of several Atlantic shipping lines, and discussion of the recruitment, health and pensions of sailors. Other topics covered include the Suez Canal, Nares' Arctic expedition, the exhibition of scientific apparatus in Kensington, proposals for a Channel tunnel and railway, and solar steam generation.

The Nautical Magazine for 1871
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1871
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1871 volume, beginning a 'new series' under a new editor, opens by announcing certain changes to the magazine 'to bring it more into harmony with the spirit of this advancing age … enlarging its usefulness' so as to be 'a means of adding to the honour and prosperity of England, and to the welfare of humanity at large'. Hydrography and navigation would continue to be prominent, but leisure reading would also feature. Other new departures include substantial articles analysing topics relating to a planned Shipping Bill, reports of the meetings of learned societies, and regular articles on competitive yachting and rowing.

The Nautical Magazine for 1872
  • Part 2
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1872
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. Under new editorship from 1871, the magazine grew substantially in length; the 1872 volume was the first to exceed 1,000 pages. Part 2 includes 'the first Christmas number', which is made up of several short stories and poems by popular writers, introduced by a promotional note mentioning that the circulation had quadrupled during the year. Poetry and fiction regularly appear, alongside other recently introduced material such as reports from learned societies, government departments and court cases, but the magazine also continues to report on steam technology, weather, wrecks and salvage, and distant regions such as Africa and Iceland.

The Nautical Magazine for 1872
  • Part 1
  • Various authors
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1872
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1872 volume, the second in the 'new series', begins by stating the journal's updated editorial policy: it will now include a regular digest of recent maritime law cases and other official news. Part 1 (January–June) reports on the meetings of learned societies, and scientific matters including health and steam power. It contains serialised essays on the propulsion of ancient galleys, and on the structures of the British constitution and government. It also discusses aspects of trade, commercial disputes and insurance, and lifesaving and its cost. A new departure is the inclusion of colourful stories, 'yarns' and ballads.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1870
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
    First published in:
    1870
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1870 volume was the thirty-ninth and last to be edited by Rear-Admiral Becher, whose brief postscript highlights improvements in charts and the installation of lightning conductors as important achievements, and remarks that the magazine's 'efforts for the improvement of all that concerns the seaman's benefit' have been a labour of love. The volume devotes much space to the newly opened Suez Canal. Australia, Canada and the Mediterranean also feature, and there are ethnographic articles on the peoples of Polynesia and West Africa. The volume also contains an obituary of Charles Dickens and a lively article on the University Boat Race.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1852
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1852
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1852 volume is dominated by Arctic matters, particularly the long-running searches for the Franklin expedition. It includes a serialised journal of a voyage to China and a glowing review of Robert Fortune's Journey to the Tea Countries of China (also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). A long-running serial, 'Shakings from Smyrna', contains an eclectic mix of information about Turkey. Piracy, slavery and shipwrecks also feature, as do the Great Exhibition, an assessment of the first year of operation of the Mercantile Marine Act and the docks, collieries, and shipbuilding industry of North-East England.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1859
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
    First published in:
    1859
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1859 volume focuses on Japan and the signing of a long-desired treaty, British military operations in China during the Second Opium War and setbacks affecting the Great Eastern and the laying of submarine cables. Research on water temperatures and currents, and accounts of the eruption of Mauna Loa in Hawaii also feature. The later issues are dominated by developments in the Franklin searches and a new series of 'occasional papers of the Nautical Club'. An unusual feature of this volume is a versified list of lighthouse locations and signals, which was later published in booklet form.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1855
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1855
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1855 volume is dominated by the Crimean War and includes critical comments on Balaclava and Sebastopol as well as opportunistic advertising for 'preserved vegetables for the Crimea' (recommending a precursor of 'instant mash'). In addition to regular features, it discusses the ethnography of West Africa, the eruption of Vesuvius, piracy in the Mediterranean and the China seas, and the causes of the loss of ships: the writer ranks teetotalism ('coffee instead of rum') sixth, even before poor construction of the vessel. Books reviewed include titles on the Arctic by Belcher and Bellot (also available in the Cambridge Library Collection).

The Nautical Magazine for 1835
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1835
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1835 volume lists new charts for parts of the Indian Ocean and the Australian coast, and includes a letter proposing a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Panama). It also contains an allegedly authentic journal of a Russian privateer, whose lurid details read more like a work of fiction. Other coverage includes regular items of naval and shipping news, the sailing times of the Falmouth packets, discussion of courts martial and of discipline on merchant ships, and a review of the recently rediscovered papers of the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed (also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection).

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1857
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
    First published in:
    1857
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The volume for 1857 includes serials on privateering in the West Indies, a voyage to St Lucia, and on Cambodia. It also describes regions including Zanzibar, the Baltic, Arabia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and Australasia, and contains military reports about the Crimea and Canton. There are reviews of books by Dr Kane on the Franklin searches and by Livingstone on his missionary travels. Several articles describe the progress of the Atlantic Electric Cable project, and the prospect of telegraphic communication with India is also discussed. The volume also contains a translation of the French merchant shipping code.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1850
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1850
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1850 volume provides extensive coverage of the ongoing search for Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition and reprints extracts from the weekly magazine of one of the ships. The Mercantile Marine Act (1850) is reported in full and a serialised phrase book, 'Turkish for Tars', provides fascinating insights into the economic and strategic importance of Turkey at that time. Besides everyday phrases, it includes medical vocabulary, ranging from 'antimony' to 'yellow fever', and many military terms. Finally, a far-sighted writer on history compares the international wrangling over the Falkland Islands to 'the squabble of two cunning boys for a rotten apple'.

The Nautical Magazine for 1834
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1834
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1834 volume devotes much space to naval news, including lists of ships and their captains, courts martial, promotions and appointments, births, marriages and deaths. It discusses the use of electricity for lighthouses and of steam engines in mines and ships, reports the launch of a new steam frigate, lists recent shipwrecks, and contains the timetables for the Falmouth packet boats to the Mediterranean, North and South America, and the Caribbean. Other contributions include a list of Arctic expeditions from England, a lurid account of a Maori haka and alleged cannibalism, and proposed designs for lightning conductors aboard ship.

The Nautical Magazine for 1832
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1832
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The first volume opens by explaining the magazine's objectives, notably to promote the safety of seamen and the advancement of hydrography. The content reflects the interests of the founding editor, Captain (later Rear-Admiral) A. B. Becher (1796–1876), and especially his commanding officer, the enormously productive Hydrographer of the Navy, Francis Beaufort (1774–1857). Besides managing the surveying and publication of a definitive repository of charts (new additions are regularly listed in the magazine), Beaufort was influential in promoting exploration, oceanography, meteorology and astronomy, all of which feature prominently from the first volume, together with naval and shipping news.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1864
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
    First published in:
    1864
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1864 volume has a strong Asian focus, devoting extensive coverage to Japan. As well as the usual reports on wrecks, it lists the number of lives saved by lifeboats during the first forty years of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and contains a poster on performing resuscitation after drowning. Map construction, coastline changes and the decline of Bristol Docks also feature, as does a report recommending Dartmouth as a landing place for mail. This volume also describes the development and opening of the Royal School for Naval Architecture and, for the last time, contains papers of the Nautical Club.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1860
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
    First published in:
    1860
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The volume for 1860 devotes considerable space to the 'occasional papers' of the recently formed Nautical Club. It covers the latest engineering achievements, including the Victoria Bridge in Montreal and the Panama Railroad, as well as the progress of the transatlantic cable. Asia and the Pacific feature prominently, with a Malay glossary and several articles on Japan that incorporate vocabulary lists. Scientific reports describe microscopic sea creatures, a solar eclipse and a tsunami. There is an article about the crowded Haj piligrimage, and books reviewed include McClintock's account of his search for further evidence about the lost Franklin expedition.

The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1858
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 March 2013
    First published in:
    1858
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1858 volume carries an obituary for Sir Francis Beaufort, the influential hydrographer who was the editor's commander and mentor. The newly laid transatlantic cable features prominently: September's issue reports, 'We are now receiving from Newfoundland accurately, with perfect signals, at the rate of one hundred words per hour', and mentions the Queen and the US President exchanging telegrams, but the October issue announces that the cable has failed. Other topics covered include the Western capture of Canton and treaty with China, the lighthouses of Lake Superior, an improved anemometer design, the Russian navy, naval recruitment and Queen Victoria's visit to Cherbourg.

The Nautical Magazine for 1833
  • Various Authors
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    28 February 2013
    First published in:
    1833
  • The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1833 volume contains frequent references to steam power, comparing steam marine engines and those used in the mines of Cornwall, and noting new steamship routes. Arctic exploration features prominently, with consideration of policy on expeditions, a drawing of an ice-reinforced ship, and a report on Sir John Ross's recently completed second voyage (described in detail in Ross' 1835 book, also available in the Cambridge Library Collection). Other topics covered include Australia, the Pacific, the Falkland Islands and St Kilda, navigation infrastructure projects and naval personnel, while a long-running serial presents the 'advice of a sailor to his son'.

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