"Journal de Bord Special aux Aspirants de l'Ecole d'Application",

This remarkable ships log and journal is by Joseph Vial. In it Vial describes a journey he made as a young officer in training, complete with all his navigational entries and detailed drawings. The voyage appears to originate in Vigo, Spain, sails past France on the way to Scandinavia. Several ports are visited including Copenhagen before sailing across the top of Scotland and down the west coast to end in Plymouth, England. His diagrams show the correct methods of approaching a harbor, turning a ship around, etc., everything he learned in school. Filled with information including a fascinating description of Scandinavia, how he navigated around the narrow and often treacherous Skagen (NE tip of Jutland), and the ships he encountered along the way. A warship in Copenhagen is drawn to show its full armory. The journal is in manuscript black ink with more than 40 drawings in ink and colored pencil. It is in the standardized French book "Marine Nationale. Journal de Bord Sepecial aux Aspirants de l'Ecole d'Application" with preprinted page format. Paper boards and green cloth spine. This remarkable record contains about 100 completed pages with the last recorded date July 17, 1905. Old dealer's note on first end paper says Vial went on to captain a French Frigate.

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Condition: A

The pages are generally fine to very good. The covers are soiled and stained with some shelf wear and bumped corners. Cloth on spine is sunned and has a 2" frayed split.