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several black and white photographs of ships and boats in the watermany papers and papers on top of a suitcasea pile of old books sitting on a tableseveral black and white photographs of ships in a book on a tablemany old photographs of ships on display on the tablea book with pictures of ships in it on a table
Premium Daguerre Savoie

159 - [MERCHANT NAVY (Photographs and Documentation)].
See original version (French)

Estimate €4,000 - €5,000
Sale commission
Description
[MERCHANT NAVY (Photographs and Documentation)]. An exceptional collection of over 18,000 photographs and postcards, together with extensive historical documentation on the Merchant Navy from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. - [MERCHANT NAVY. – DOCUMENTATION]. Collection of historical documentation. History: [BROUARD (Jean-Yves)]. Working dossier comprising autograph letters and typewritten proofs – photocopied and corrected by hand – for a book on Liberty Ships, describing 70 vessels. – SHAW (Alexander). Victory ships [...] and Forts and Parks & the Oceans. - Handwritten copy by SCHMELZKOPF (Reinhart). *Die Deutsche Handelsschiffahrt 1888–1918*. - Bureau Veritas: War losses [1914–1918]. - Collection on the great transatlantic liners, the United States, and the Battle of the Atlantic. - History of the Southampton–Le Havre service. - History of the Royal Canadian Navy (1910–1960). - Submarine cables and cable-laying vessels. - Opening of the Suez Canal. - etc. Enclosed is a substantial handwritten dictionary comprising 26 stapled quarto volumes and one volume of miscellaneous notes, listing a very large number of ships and providing unrivalled information on their nationalities, former names, shipping companies, dates of entry into service and construction, missions, ports of call and accidents. - Companies and ships: Merchant Navy Yearbook (1951 and 1952). - Northern Steamships – Horn-Linie – Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (extensive file) – Affréteurs Réunis – 32 issues of the journal of the Friends of Marseille’s Liner Ships – H.M.S. Victory – L’Île de France – St Nazaire and Nantes shipyards. - Register of Nantes sailing ships [...] 1862. - Extensive file on approximately 45 shipping companies (sorted by name) containing archive extracts, photocopies of publications, old press cuttings, specialist journals and a few photographs. - [MERCHANT MARINE. – NORTHERN EUROPE]. A set of 8 albums of postcards and photographs of merchant ships, the vast majority of which are photographic prints. Approximately 3,500 items, arranged alphabetically and by company, bearing stamps or copyright marks from Marius Bar, John Clarkson, A. Duncan, etc. Many postcards are annotated on the back with the ship’s name, its company, builder, country and, in some cases, a brief history (activities during the world wars, changes of name and ownership, accidents, etc.). Ships from the following countries: Denmark, 1 album; Norway, 4 albums; Sweden, 1 album; USSR, 2 albums. - [MERCHANT MARINE. - EUROPE]. A collection of 26 albums of postcards and photographs of merchant ships, the vast majority of which are photographic prints. Approximately 9,500 items, arranged in alphabetical order and by shipping company, bearing stamps or copyright marks from Marius Bar, John Clarkson, A. Duncan, etc. Many cards are annotated on the reverse with the ship’s name, its shipping company, builder, country and, in some cases, a brief history (activities during the world wars, changes of name and ownership, accidents, etc.). Ships from the following countries: Germany, 4 albums; France, 6 albums; Great Britain, 12 albums; Greece, 1 album; the Netherlands, 2 albums; Italy, 1 album. Included are thousands of modern photographs of merchant ships, sometimes accompanied by handwritten information about the vessels. - [MERCHANT NAVY. – MERCIER (Guy), Marc SAIBÈNE and Jean-Yves BROUARD. Working and reference files compiled by Guy Mercier for the preparation of the three volumes entitled *La Marine marchande française*, 1939–1940; 1940–1942 and 1943–1945, published between 1996 and 2001]. Four files containing numerous sub-files and seven further files of documentation. A collection of working documents containing, for each volume, the finalised layout, finalised chapter texts, original signed autograph letters or photocopies of correspondence between the authors, entire sections of the manuscripts, and annotated documentation. These three volumes, compiled into a single volume in 2008, present the history of all merchant ships that flew the French flag between 3 September 1939 and mid-August 1945. Attached to this collection are seven substantial documentation files, six of which contain photocopies of reports from the French General Staff or the State Secretariat for the Navy, relating to the activities of some 550 ships (listed by name, excluding the letters D, E and F) during the years 1939–1945. Exceptional documentation that belonged to the author Guy Mercier, which he used to create this colossal reference work, a comprehensive overview of the history of the French merchant navy during the Second World War. - [MERCHANT MARINE. - WORLD]. A set of 13 albums of postcards and photographs of merchant ships from some 53 countries, the vast majority of which are photographic prints. Approximately 5,000 items, arranged in alphabetical order by country and by shipping company, bearing stamps or copyright notices from Marius Bar, John Clarkson, A. Duncan, etc. Many postcards are annotated on the reverse with the ship’s name, its company, builder, country and, in some cases, a brief history (activities during the world wars, changes of name and ownership, accidents, etc.). Ships from the following countries: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bangladesh, Burma, Brazil, Bulgaria, Ceylon, China, Cyprus, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Spain, Ethiopia, Finland, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Iceland, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Latvia, Libya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Somalia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Tonkin, Togo, Uruguay, the USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Zaire.
See original version (French)
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About the sale In preparation – The Jean-Paul Delon Bookshop Collection, Part I (Bibliography – Scholarship – Bibliophilia)
Auction location
Auction time 10/05/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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