This lot consists of four limited and numbered edition books about ships and the sea. They are titled "Adventures By Sea From Art Of Old Time" by Basil Lubbock, "Yachts & Yachting in Contemporary Art", by B. Heckstall-Smith, "Old Naval Prints, Their Artists & Engravers", by Charles N. Robinson, and "Life In A Man of War", by A Fore Top Man.The first book, "Adventures By Sea From Art of Old Times", was written by Basil Lubbock, edited by Geoffrey Holme, and published by The Studio Limited in London in 1925 [MCMXXV], with a preface by John Masefield, who was an English poet, writer, and Poet Laureate of England from 1930 until 1967; the only person to hold the position for a longer period was Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Masefield wrote poems about nature and the sea, and perhaps that is why he was invited to write a preface for this book, and the text starts off with a poem by Masefield entitled "Lines On Sea Adventure". The book has gilt lettering on the spine and front cover, with an image of a mermaid on the front cover in gilt, too, blue endpapers with maritime images, the half-title, the book is a first edition and number 257 of 1750 copies on the limitation page, there is a five-page List of Illustrations, then 40 pages of text followed by 115 plates (some in color, the rest in black and white), and the plates are categorized like this: a) Voyages and Circumnavigation, b) Trade and Trading Companies, c) Perils of the Sea, d) Whaling and Early Arctic Exploration, e) Buccaneers and Pirates, f) Privateers, Smugglers, And Slavers, and g) Clippers Ships Etc. The edges are bevelled and the top edge is gilt. The book is 4to. and measures 12 5/8 x 10 1/8 in. wide, the binding is tight and the pages and text are very clean, the covers have a shadow around two edges from a smaller book being placed on either side of the book, with light rubbing at the crown and the tips, two tips turned in, and the covers have light marks on them as well. The next book is "Yachts & Yachting in Contemporary Art", by B. Heckstall-Smith, edited by Geoffrey Holme and published by The Studio Limited in London in MCMXXV [1925]. It is a first edition, number #587 of 1000 copies, and it illustrates the yacht in art from 1613 to 1922. The spine and the front cover have gilt lettering, with pictorial endpapers, a five-page List of Illustrations, and the book includes colored plates accompanied by descriptive letterpress for a total of 103 plates in color and black-and-white, a seven-page Index of the Yachts, bevelled edges, and the top edge its gilt. The book is 4to. and measures 11 5/8 x 9 3/8 in. wide and in pretty good condition. The binding is pretty tight, with light rubbing at the crown and heel and along the edges of the spine, light wear at the tips, and brown spots mostly in the margins. The slipcase also has light wear, but is solid and very intact. The third book is "Old Naval Prints, Their Artists & Engravers", by Commander Charles N. Robinson, R. N., edited once again by Geoffrey Holme and published by The Studio Limited in London in MCMXXIV [1924]. It is a first edition, number 1220 of 1500 copies, and it covers naval history from 1587 through 1815. The spine and the front cover have gilt lettering, with an anchor design in gilt on the front cover as well, with wave patterned endpapers, the half-title and limitation page, a six-page List of Illustrations, 36 pages of text, 24 colored plates and 72 black and white plates, bevelled edges, and the top edge is gilt.During his career in the Navy, the author achieved the rank of Commander and afterwards became a journalist and story writer, specializing in naval matters. He was a founder of the Society for Nautical Research and a member of its Publications Committee from its establishment until his death. The book is 4to. and measures 12 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. wide, the binding is tight, the plates and images are clean, with brown spots on the half-title, limitation and title page, the List of Illustrations, and text, with light bumps on the heel and very light rubbing at the tips.The last book is titled "Life In A Man-Of-War Or Scenes in 'Old Ironsides' During Her Cruise in the Pacific", by A Fore-Top-Man, with a Preface by Elliott Snow, Rear Admiral, C.C., U.S.N. and published by Houghton and Mifflin in Boston and New York in 1927. It is a limited and numbered first edition, number 220 of 785 copies that were printed at the Riverside Press in Cambridge, Mass., and only 750 of those copies were for sale, and it comes in a slipcase. The book was originally published in 1841, the author was probably Henry James Mercier, according to WorldCat, and the book offers an account of Old Ironsides - the U.S.S. Constitution - on her voyage from Norfolk to the Pacific and back in the years 1839 to 1841. The book is 1/4 bound, with gilt lettering on the spine and a gilt image of the U.S. Constitution on the front cover, blank endpapers, the half-title and limitation page, a frontis portrait of Commodore Alexander Claxton, an eight-page Editor's Preface and two-page regular Preface, two pages of Contents, followed by a two-page list of Illustrations, a four-page Introduction, 288 pages of text, with 28 black-and-white plates, and a leaf with an abstract of the Constitution's cruise in the Pacific between 1839 and 1841 at the end. Commodore Claxton (1792 - 1841) was an American naval officer who entered the navy as midshipman in June 1806, served on the sloop-of-war " Wasp" in her action with the "Frolic" in October 1812, and became a lieutenant in January 1813. He was appointed commander in 1820 and captain in 1831. He died on board the U.S.S. Constitution in 1841; at the time of his death he was in command of the American Pacific squadron off the coast of Chile and was only 49 years old when he died, and this is actually the same cruise that was chronicled by Herman Melville in "White Jacket". The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially it had no United States ports in the Pacific, so it operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local ports of call in the Hawaiian Islands and towns on the Pacific Coast.The book measures 10 3/4 x 8 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean text and illustrations, faded lettering on the spine, uncut pages, light rubbing on the spine, the slipcase as some wear, and we could find no other books of this title offered online with a slipcase. A great history of the Constitution during its days on the Pacific coast. All four books are being sold as one lot. #149 #1586