Description

The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1870 volume was the thirty-ninth and last to be edited by Rear-Admiral Becher, whose brief postscript highlights improvements in charts and the installation of lightning conductors as important achievements, and remarks that the magazine's 'efforts for the improvement of all that concerns the seaman's benefit' have been a labour of love. The volume devotes much space to the newly opened Suez Canal. Australia, Canada and the Mediterranean also feature, and there are ethnographic articles on the peoples of Polynesia and West Africa. The volume also contains an obituary of Charles Dickens and a lively article on the University Boat Race.