Distinguished Liners from
The Shipbuilder
Volume 1 1906-1914

To maritime enthusiasts, collectors, engineers, architects and historians, the name "The Shipbuilder" (known today as "Shipping World and Shipbuilder"), is pure magic. Founded in 1906, it chronicled in great detail the building, launch and outfitting of the latest ships, providing a vivid - and sometimes the only existing record for future generations.

Blue Riband Publications, Inc. was founded with the primary purpose of making the invaluable material found in "The Shipbuilder" available to the public by republishing it. Mark D. Warren, noted maritime author and historian, carefully reviewed and edited some 7,000 pages in order to create these two composite volumes of the "Distinguished Liner" series comprising 542 pages of "the best of The Shipbuilder."

For Volume 1, Mark Warren selected 41 vessels including such famous ships as the Rotterdam, France, Cameronia, White Star's Adriatic & Laurentic; the Empress of Russia and Empress of Ireland; in addition to Cunard's Lusitania & Mauretania and the White Star liners Olympic & Titanic. Mark Warren then imported or repositioned in chronological order 220 blocks of text, photos and advertisements to present this rare glimpse of the construction, size and furnishing of these remarkable liners.

Created specifically with Titanic enthusiasts and researchers in mind, yet covers in great detail 93 other ships built during the same period, both Volumes 1 and 2 of Distinguished Liners from the The Shipbuilder contain much Olympic and Titanic material including period advertisements not seen in a century or found in any other publication or reprint. More specifically, both Volumes 1 and 2 contain 183 period advertisements including 42 for the Olympic and Titanic (vs. 132 ads with only 27 for the Olympic and Titanic in the "Olympic & Titanic Shipbuilder Souvenir Number"); 478 photos and 41 oversized folding deck plans; 10 pages with color plates and 4 perforated tissue subscription forms.

The quality and sharpness of the printing of each of the 478 photos found on the 542 numbered pages, along with the actual text itself and the many highly detailed deck plans that comprise Volumes 1 and 2, is vastly superior in clarity and definition than all previous reprints which, almost without exception, have dark and murky text and photos. All one has to do is compare Volumes 1 and 2 with other Olympic & Titanic reprints, including the most recent, side-by-side, page-by-page and the differences between "digital printing" (photocopying using a disc) and actual ink-printing on high-resolution paper is clearly self-evident. Volumes 1 and 2 are simply superior in every respect.

Not machine-glued ("perfect bound") like other reprints, Volumes 1 and 2 are gilt blind-stamped hardcover books that are hand-assembled and hand-sewn, one-at-a-time, and printed entirely on specially made high resolution clay-coated acid-free paper identical to the original Shipbuilder books published a century ago.

Other features of Volume 1 include:

• An introduction by Mark D. Warren outlining the subsequent history of these great ships, which is particularly important since 15 of the vessels did not survive the "Great War," six were lost in World War II and three were lost in major peacetime disasters;

• 228 numbered pages, with an aggregate total of more than 176 pages of reprinted ship text and 145 beautifully reproduced, laser-scanned photographs;

• 22 additional oversized folding deck plans, including 6 oversized folding deck plans of the Olympic & Titanic, showing full length profile, all decks, boiler and engine rooms;

• 41 diagrams including transverse cutaways and engine room plans;

• 5 additional pages of color plates, including four of the Mauretania; each specifically matte varnished to replicate the original "Shipbuilder" colorized views;

• An extremely rare two-color folding advertisement for the White Star liners Olympic and Titanic showing both a longitudinal and a transverse cutaway, along with a transverse cutaway of the Cunard liner Franconia;

• 63 rare original advertisements totalling more than 37 pages that, illustrated with 18 engravings and more than 40 photographs, include 24 of Cunard's Lusitania & Mauretania, and 24 of the White Star steamers Olympic & Titanic;

• 2 facsimile perforated tissue subscription forms;

• Volume 1 is a solid, heavy book - not a cheap "perfect-bound" (machine-glued) or "digitally printed" (xeroxed) copy so often found in other reprints today!

Distinguished Liners from
The Shipbuilder
Volume 2 1907-1914

In a format very similar to the first volume in this series, Volume 2 is devoted to the reprinted text of 53 passenger vessels of various size and importance that were originally published in "The Shipbuilder" prior to 1915. Virtually lost until now, many of the hitherto unknown details of these important vessels can once again be seen as when the ships first entered service.

The ships featured in Volume 2 include a 9-page section on the White Star liner Britannic, a 25-page section on Cunard's Aquitania, with five 18 1/2-inch folding deck plans; a 12-page section describing the Franconia with 3 oversized folding deck plans; 12 more pages devoted to the the Laconia, along with a 38-page section on the Imperator, complete with an 18 1/2-inch folding longitudinal cutaway; a 20-page narrative on the Vaterland, and another 18 1/2 pages describing in extraordinary detail the Cap Trafalgar, supplemented with 3 oversized folding deck plans and longitudinal cutaway.

With an aggregate total of 314 pages of reprinted text containing 212 text photos, 469 sections of text, photographs and plans were imported and repositioned chronologically covering the period to form this composite book that once again reflects "the best of The Shipbuilder." This volume also contains 116 original "Shipbuilder" advertisements with an additional 101 ad photographs.

In as much as the photos, plans and diagrams augment and clarify the text, the advertisements reflect the trends of the period by enabling one to see the specific products and services that were available at that time, whether they were the wrought iron domes and aluminium lift guards in the Mauretania, the ornate bronze sconces and light fixtures of the Olympic and Titanic or the Aquitania, or the reliability of the lifeboat davits on the Lusitania or the Vestris.

Besides an advertisement for the maiden voyage of the Olympic, Volume 2 also contains the rarest ad ever published for the Titanic, stating:"The Largest Vessel Afloat - White Star Liner R.M.S. Titanic - Left Southampton for New York April 10th, 1912."

In total, Volume 2 has 18 advertisements for the Olympic and/or the Titanic, 19 ads for the Lusitania and/or the Mauretania; 22 ads for the Aquitania, 6 ads for the Imperator and 4 advertisements for the Britannic; this in addition to 6 ads for Cunard's short-lived trio of express liners, the Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania combined.

Each gilt-stamped hardcover book is 100 percent handmade and hand assembled one-at-a-time, hand-sewn, and ink printed entirely on high resolution clay-coated acid-free paper identical to the original Shipbuilder publication published a century ago.

Other features of Volume 2 include:

• An introduction by Mark D. Warren outlining the subsequent history of these 53 intriguing vessels;

• 313 laser-scanned photographs reproduced at 4,000 dots per square inch;

• 64 text plans and 70 additional illustrations;

• 19 additional oversized folding blueprint plans, including ones for the Aquitania, Cap Trafalgar, Imperator and Franconia;

• Complete deck plans with all furnishings shown for the Imperator and Vaterland;

• 29 diagrams and 11 transverse cutaways;

• 5 pages of color plates, including 4 of the interior of the Aquitania, plus a two-color Franconia / Laconia advertisement; one oversized folding advertisement for the Mauretania and Aquitania and another 6 ads for the Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania combined;

• 2 facsimile perforated tissue subscription forms;

• Weighing nearly 3 pounds, Volume 2 is a solid, heavy book - not a cheap machine-glued, (perfect-bound) xeroxed (digitally printed) copy so often found today!