London: The Library Press, Limited, 1915. Presumed First printing thus. Hardcover. 332 & 288 pages. 2 vols., illus. (many color), tables, diagrams, glossary, appendix, index, foxing to text & fore-edge, discoloration inside boards. Ink name and date inside front flyleaves, spines faded and somewhat stained, some wear to edges of spines. John Fredrick Thomas Jane (6 August 1865 – 8 March 1916) was the founding editor of reference books on warships (All the World's Fighting Ships) and aircraft (All the World's Airships) and the namesake of what would become Jane's Information Group and many of its publications. He first began to sketch warships in his teens, and was notable in the 1890s for illustrating scientific romances by George Griffith and other authors, as well as for his own science fiction novels such as To Venus in Five Seconds (published in 1897) and The Violet Flame (1899).
An avid miniatures wargamer, Jane first published All the World's Fighting Ships (known as Jane's Fighting Ships after 1905) in 1898, which catalogued all the warships operated by each country, their armaments, and other details, as a supplement to a wargame he designed. It was a success from the start and has become the standard reference directory on the topic. The Naval Warrant Officer's Journal suggested that the book be on every ship, and in 1902 said that it should be available to every naval officer. The Admiralty were less enthusiastic, partly due to Jane's irreverent behavior - although some ships did acquire copies. In 1909, he created All the World's Aircraft. Jane was an accomplished artist whose works were widely published in periodicals and books, those illustrations are now collectable. More