High School & Adult Level Books

Baker, William A. A Maritime History of Bath, Maine, and the Kennebec River Region. Bath, ME: Marine Research Society of Bath, 1973. The story of a major shipbuilding town in Maine.

Blackburn, Graham. The Overlook Illustrated Dictionary of Nautical Terms. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 1981.

Bowker, Francis E. Hull-Down. New Bedford: Reynolds Printing, 1963. Schooners of Maine.

Bradford, Gershom. The Mariner’s Dictionary. New York: Weathervane Books, 1972.

Chappelle, Howard I. The History of American Sailing Ships. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1935.

Duncan, Roger F. Coastal Maine: A Maritime History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1992. A good overview of Maine maritime history, including its ships and shipbuilding.

Duncan, Roger F. The Dorothy Elizabeth. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000. Building a traditional wooden schooner.

Duncan, Roger F. Freindship Sloop. Camden, ME: International Marine Publishing Company, 1985. Detailed information on this traditional Maine working boat.

Forbes, Allan and Ralph M. Eastman. Yankee Ship Sailing Cards. (3 v.) Boston: State Street Trust Co., 1948-52. Reproductions of colorful and dramatic posters advertising clipper ships for the purpose of attracting cargoes.

Gardner, John. The Dory Book. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1987. Building wooden dories. Illustrations by Sam Manning.

Greenhill, Basil and Sam Manning. The Evolution of the Wooden Ship. New York: Facts on File, 1988. A history of wooden ships and shipbuilding, with excellent illustrations of the shipbuilding process.

Greenhill, Basil and Sam Manning. The Schooner Bertha L. Downs. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.

Kerchove, Rene de. International Maritime Dictionary, Second Edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1961.

Lowell, Royal. Boatbuilding Down East: How Lobster Boats are Built. Brooklin, ME: WoodenBoat Publications, 2002.

Lubbock, Basil. The Down Easters: American Deep-Water Sailing Ships 1869-1929. Glasgow: Brown, Son and Ferguson, Ltd., 1929.

Manning, Samuel F. New England Masts and the King’s Broad Arrow. Kennebunk, ME: Thomas Murphy, 1979. Well illustrated history of the Maine and New Hampshire mast trade.

McKay, Richard C. Some Famous Sailing Ships and their Builder, Donald McKay. New York, London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1928. A famous Boston shipbuilder.

McKenna, Robert. The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy. Camden, ME: International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Milner, Craig. Ralph Stanley: Tales of a Maine Boatbuilder. Camden, ME: Down East Books, 2004. Ralph Stanley of Southwest Harbor is one of the best-known designers and builders of traditional wooden boats. His boatbuilding shop is still in operation.

Morris, Paul C. American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic. Chardon, OH: Bloch & Osborn Publishing Co., 1973.

Parker, W. J. Lewis. The Great Coal Schooners of New England. Mystic, CT: Maritime Historical Association, 1948.

Rogers, John G. Origins of Sea Terms. Mystic, CT. Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc., 1985.

Rowe, William Hutchinson. The Maritime History of Maine. Freeport, ME: Bond Wheelwright Co., 1966. Another good introduction, though it doesn’t always cover the entire state.

Snow, Ralph Linwood. Bath Iron Works: The First Hundred Years. Bath, ME: Maine Maritime Museum, 1987. Good work on 20th century shipbuilding in Maine.

Snow, Ralph Linwood and Douglas K. Lee. A Shipyard in Maine: Percy & Small and the Great Schooners. Gardiner, Me: Tilbury House; Bath, ME: Maine Maritime Museum, 1999. Excellent illustrations.

Spectre, Peter. Wooden Ship: The Art, History, and Revival of Wooden Boatbuilding. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1991. Nicely illustrated with large, color pictures.

Stelmok, Jerry and Rollin Thurlow. The Wood & Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance. Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House, 1987.

Stevens, James P. Reminiscences of a Boothbay Shipbuilder. Boothbay, ME: Boothbay Region Historical Society, 1993.

Story, Dana A. The Building of a Wooden Ship: “Sawn Frames and Trunnels Fastened.” Barre, MA: Barre Publishing Co., Inc., 1971.

Thorndike, Virginia L. Maine Lobsterboats: Builders and Lobstermen Speak of Their Craft. Camden, ME: Downeast Books, 1998.

Warren Historical Society. From Warren to the Sea, 1827-1852: Letters of the Counce and McCallum Families. Middletown, NY: Whitlock Press, 1970. Shipbuilding in Warren, Maine.

Wasson, George S. Sailing Days on the Penobscot: The Story of the River and the Bay in the Old Days. London: MacDonald and Jane’s, 1974. With introduction by Lincoln Colcord.