[Maritime. Shipbuilding] Duhamel du Monceau, H.L. Elémens de l'architecture navale,

ou Traité pratique de la construction des vaisseaux. Seconde edition revue, corrigée & augmentée par l'auteur. Paris, Ch.-A. Jombert, 1758, XLIV,49,XXIX,(1) (tables),(1),52-484 p., w. engr. frontisp., title-vignette, 24 (large) fold. engr. plates (plate 8/9 is one plate counting for 2), and 10 headpieces dep. the var. stages of building a ship. Contemp. mottled calf, gilt and ribbed spine w. mor. letterpiece, 4to. Occas. foxed/ sl. browned. Joints split(ting), corners bumped/ showing and covers w. chafed spots. With an interesting orig. letterpress moving notice of Alexandre Jombert, successor to his father Charles Antoine as bookseller, pasted on first blank. The second, most sought-after edition (first 1752), of this important complete manual on shipbuilding, expanded with a 10th chapter on the centre of mass of vessels. The author started a school of marine science in 1741, following the initiative of King Louis XV to create a powerful French navy.