Jane's Fighting Ships, 1964-65
London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd., 1965. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Hardcover. Quarto. 59 pages of advertisements, v-vii, 461, xvi pages. Illustrations. Tables. Index. Addenda. Edge tear repaired with tape at page 2/3 adv. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Edges of several pages trimmed. No dust jacket present. This is a heavy book that would require additional shipping charges if sent outside of the United States. Raymond V. B. Blackman, was one of the world's leading experts on foreign navies and a former editor of the military reference work Jane's Fighting Ships. Jane's Fighting Ships is one of the authoritative volumes on military hardware and other subjects produced each year by the Jane's publishing house and studied around the world. Mr. Blackman, who edited Fighting Ships from 1949-73, lived in Portsmouth, where he was born. He joined the navy at 16 and served for 10 years, having trained as a naval engineer. He then took up journalism, becoming naval correspondent for a local paper. He rejoined the Royal Navy in 1939, working in the design department developing mines and anti-submarine weapons. After the war, Mr. Blackman returned to journalism. From 1946 to 1956, he was naval correspondent of The Sunday Times of London. Mr. Blackman was the author of ''Modern World Book of Ships'' in 1951 and of successive editions of ''The World's Warships'' and of ''Ships of the Royal Navy'' in 1973. More