The Mariner's Mirror is the world's oldest and most distinguished journal for nautical research and within its pages can be found some of the finest writing on ships and the sea available anywhere. This new series, Keynote Studies from The Mariner's Mirror, is intended to make available the fruits of nearly a century of nautical publishing. By extracting the best of the articles, reordering them and adding the notes and queries which appeared in the same issues, the editor of this volume has created a fascinating and coherent narrative which describes the development of the sailing ship in both northern and southern Europe from mediaeval times through to the renaissance. Amongst the contributors are R Morton Nance, H H Brindley and Geoffrey Callender who might be viewed as the very fathers of modern maritime research. For all those who have an interest in the enduring story of the development of the sailing ship this volume is essential reading. Beautifully written and clearly illustrated with the original line drawings, these extracts will come as a revelation to modern-day enthusiasts and historians, and represent a valuable reference tool for all those with an interest in the age of sail.