America and the Sea Treasures from the Collections of Mystic Seaport Stephen S. Lash, Daniel Finamore, Nicholas Whitman, Erik A.R. Ronnberg, William Fowler, Michael McManus, Ryan M. Cooper

The history of America is largely a history of the sea. This marvellous book features a selection of more than two hundred of the finest objects from Mystic Seaport that tell the history of America and its maritime heritage. Presented with accessible texts and beautiful reproductions are masterpieces of maritime painting, exquisite photographs of classic yachts and powerboat races, and diverse prints and watercolours. Unique examples of American folk art - yarn paintings, reverse paintings on glass, sailors' valentines, shadowbox ship models, and ships in bottles - are also explored in detail, along with watercraft, scrimshaw, ship figureheads, and silver yachting trophies. Essays written by distinguished experts describe the individual forms of expression, discuss the artists and craftsmen, and offer commentary on the ways in which America's maritime history is interwoven with its economic development and cultural history. Elegantly designed and lavishly produced, "America and the Sea" offers intriguing new evidence of the indisputable relevance of maritime history to American life and art.

Stephen S. Lash is chairman, Christie's America, and former chairman and current director of the New York City Landmarks Conservancy. John Wilmerding is Christopher Binyon Sarofim '86 Professor of American Art in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. W. Jeffrey Bolster is associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. Llewellyn Howlland is the proprietor of Howland and Company, literary consultants and purveyors of antiquarian books, prints and paintings. N. Lyles Forbes is small craft curator at The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Michael McManus is an acclaimed expert on scrimshaw. J. Russell Jinishian is a leading authority on contemporary marine painting. Janet Zapata is an independent scholar, museum consultant and curator for the American Museum of National History, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her expertise is in silver and jewellery.