Deutschlands Kriegsflotte. Eine Darstellung der Entwickelung und des gegewartigen Bestandes der gesamten Reichsmarine, ihrer organisation und ihres Materials
Erfurt und Leipzig: Friedrich Kirchner, 1906. Large 8vo, pp. 604, [2]; chromolithograph frontispiece, chromolithograph plate of flags and signals, 3 double-page color plates of ships' hulls and cross-sections, double-page color map, 3 other black & white plates, double-page plate printed on 2 sides showing the ships of the German navy, folding table of ships printed in color at the back, and the whole profusely illustrated throughout, mostly from photographs, many full- or nearly full-page; original pictorial green cloth stamped black, red and yellow; extremities worn, cloth starting to crack at the bottom of the front joint, the binding slightly dull and the front hinge starting; a good copy with an interesting provenance. With the ownership signature on the front free endpaper of William A. Bieber, Hamburg, Dec. 1908 who was a friend and associate of Fred T. Jane, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships. According to a manuscript note accompanying the book, one of the principal characters in Jane's novel The Port Guardship (1902) dealing with contemporary naval life, was Wallace Ransome, in real life the 'genial merchant banker,' William Bieber, whose inestimable collection of warship photographs had been of considerable assistance to Jane in the preparation of Fighting Ships. There are several annotations by Bieber at the back of the book, correcting the name of a ship and other small reader's marks. Item #58027
Price: $140.00
