38800 Abyssinia Deck Plan
Extremely rare 19th Century Cunard deck plan for the Abyssinia and Algeria. The Abyssinia was completed for Cunard in 1870 and left their service in 1889. The Algeria was finished the same year and was sold in 1881. The deck plan measures 4” x 2½”. One side is a rendering of the ship, and the opposite side is the cabin accommodations. Two of these plans are available. What’s interesting is that the renderings on each deck plan is different -- one shows the ship with sails set, and the other shows the liner under steam. Excellent condition and one of the earliest deck plans you’ll see for any company. $295 each.
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Super Stratton compact from the Ascania. In great condition and never used. Complete with the cardboard insert from Stratton. Completed in 1925 as the fifth of Cunard's "A" Class ships that served Canada, the Ascania had a long a varied career. This grand old Cunarder was finally retired in December, 1956. $145.
Some of the best souvenirs on the old liners were specially targeted to smokers, including this brass ashtray with a fully enameled Cunard logo complete with the name RMS Aquitania in the center. No loss or cracking to enamel. In great condition. $95.
Mint condition log cards. I have a quantity of these from the 1930's available. Various dates. $15 ea.
Her "bible" if you will. I am pleased to be able to offer this special edition of The Shipbuilder magazine for Aquitania for the first time. I have had them for other great ships but never for Aquitania. It was a treat just to browse through it! Only the most important ships got their own special hard-backed edition of this magazine. Covers all things Aquitania in great detail. Have a specific question? Need to know a technical detail? Wish you had plans, side elevations, and specs? There is nothing like the original. It has a quality that a reprint just cannot touch. The color plates alone are quite impressive. If you are a model maker or researcher you need this book. In excellent condition with some slight scuffing to covers. $395.
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28 pages with (in most cases) one image on the left-hand page and a description of the photo on the opposite page. Interestingly, the description of each room concentrates on the decorative style with a lot of information about which period rooms were copied from where. Covers first and second class and dates to the early 1920's because there is no mention of the extensive alterations done to her suites in the latter part of the 1920's. Excellent condition. Tied with a silk cord. $185.
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Perhaps my favorite brochure for the Aquitania. Runs 24 pages with many full-page photos. Among the views seen are the details of the the grill room, the gym, the garden lounges, some of her new staterooms on B Deck, and many more. These photos are crisp and would scan well. Near mint condition and highly sought after for this much-loved ship. John Maxtone-Graham calls her "Cunard's White Star liner." I don't think that's strong enough. You could call her "Cunard's Copy of Olympic." Brochure dates to about 1930. $225.
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Cunard's ubiquitous celluloid cigarette box. They produced these for all the ships in the post-war era, including the Georgic which was strictly on austerity service. Their status as post-war souvenirs (or just prior to the war) makes me conclude that this example dates to the late 1940's. Sold in the on-board gift shops, these only fit non-filtered smokes. Good condition with some discoloration around the edges. One of the earliest I've ever carried. Everyone loves Aquitania; so I would buy it quickly. $95.
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Large fold-open deck plan for tourist class on board the Aquitania dated May, 1935. Lots and lots of changes made to her since her early days, including the addition of a cinema ingeniously inserted within the old second-class dining room and cleverly using the existing dome to allow a full-height screen. It's also interesting to see how they made huge improvements to the second-class cabins in spots where there had originally been banks of cabins four deep which were impossibly cramped. These four cabins became two spacious ones. Deck plan opens to about 27" x 24" and includes seven large photos of the interiors on the back. Great condition with some tiny separations at a few folds. $145.
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Full-color-coded plan printed on glossy paper for Aquitania's 1937 cruise to the West Indies and South America. Covers both first and second class and is interesting because it shows how Cunard and significantly enlarged most of her cabins as well as other changed throughout the years. All the officers' tables in the dining room are marked. Measures about 41" x 35" Pretty much mint, not even any tears at the folds. One of the nicest and most-detailed plans I've seen for her. $225.
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Ladies and gentlemen, one of those items that really sets a collection apart. A spectacular invitation to her launch. This sports not one, but two, pieces of art by Norman Wilkinson, one on the cover of the ship on the ways and one in full color on the inside. Made out to a Mr. Echols for that long ago day of April 21, 1913. Some foxing to the cover, otherwise excellent. No tears, etc. Printed on very heavy card stock. Not too many of these out there that I've seen! If you're an Aquitania fan, and who isn't, this is a rare chance to own something that was there at her birth. $495.
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Unusual souvenir pocket mirror showing her as a troop transport in World War II. She was the only large liner to serve in both WWI and WWII. In excellent condition. $35.
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Gilt and enamel lapel pin with hand-painted image of Aquitania at sea. Oddly, despite her many years of service, I haven't come across many pins like this for her. Measures about 1½" across. In mint condition. One of the best I've seen. $185.
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Is it just me, or are there fewer Cunard woven in silk cards available these days? They just don't seem to turn up often. This lovely example for Aquitania is unused and in excellent condition. $165.
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If you like loose-leaf tea, here's the spoon to measure it with. From her on-board gift shop. Measures 3" in length. During the Queen Elizabeth's last years of service, it was noted by a reporter that the vast quantities of loose wet tea leaves being dumped in the kitchen sinks day after day was constantly clogging the plumbing so Cunard switched to tea bags. Very good condition with no plate loss except where it rested on the back. No damage to the enamel. The best condition I have seen. $85.
It's nice to find souvenirs for her that date to the pre-merger period, especially ones that are in such good condition. Probably dates to the 1920's. Excellent condition. $125.
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Great rending of Campania in Queenstown Harbor surrounded by harbor craft, including a long boat with the name "Cunard" on the bow. Written on and posted May 25, 1907, at New York. Good condition, some postal cancellation on the front. $10.
Silver souvenir spoon dating to the 1920's and prior to the CWS merger. In excellent condition with no issues with the enamel. $70.
33511 Carmania (1905) Post Card
How would you like to have to clean this up? The destruction on the bridge of Carmania after her famous engagement during World War I with the Cap Trafalgar, which was ironically painted to look like Carmania! The Carmania "fought" with herself. One wonders if they repaired the telegraphs or if they had to be replaced. Great card! Unused. Bumped corners. $35.
Sterling silver souvenir spoon. Fully hallmarked. Made in Birmingham in the late 1960's. Mint condition. $45.
One of the first brochures ever issued for the newly built Caronia. Printed on November 15, 1948, the ship was not yet in service. Full rates and itineraries for her four fourteen-day cruises to the West Indies. Five renderings of the ship (no photos of her yet!). In great condition but had been folded. $35.
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Nice full color brochure produced for Caronia. Twelve images for her interiors and exteriors. Measures 16" x 18" inches. Very good condition. I had 10 of these! You guys cleaned me out as this is my last one. $30.
I love these colorful cut-aways. Whether you frame them or just take them out and look at them, they're gorgeous and informative. Cunard must have loved them as well because they produced them for all of Caronia's service life. Fortunately, this is from her first years of service as it's the Cunard White Star version and she is listed as "new."
Folds open to reveal her lovely profile by G.H. Davis, the same prolific artist who painted the cut-away of the Queen Mary for Cunard as well as hundreds of other renderings of liners. An extensive key covers 131 locations in the ship. Also includes several color renderings, including one of a private suite and a cut-away of her revolutionary funnel. Opens to 11" x 33". From the Frank Braynard Collection. Getting tough to find. Mint condition. $125.
Dating to August of 1965, this style of plan is often seen for the Queens but rarely seen for Caronia. Lots of interior photos. In great condition. $25.
Perhaps one of you out there can tell me why Cunard bothered to make so many temporary plans in the post-war period, even after the ship was in service. Here's a temporary plan for first class in her transatlantic configuration, dated March, 1951. In excellent condition save for a 3 inch tear on the back page. From the Frank Braynard Collection. $15.
Looking for the entire set of Caronia temporary deck plans? I have found another cabin class plan so collect all three! Like most of these plans this is dated October 1948, just prior to Caronia's entry into service. Excellent condition. $25.
23451 Caronia (1949) Deck Plan
Color-coded cruise plan for the "Green Goddess." Not dated, but dates prior to the 1965 refit. Measures 37" x 24". Excellent condition. $10.
Amazing shot of Moran tugs at the stern of Caronia on one of the few times she was in NYC with ice in the Hudson. I think this image is 1963. Measures 8" x 10". Stamp on the back indicates it is from the public relations department of Moran Towing. Frank Braynard collection. Very good condition with a slight tear at top of photo. Does not affect image. $30.
The images from the 12-pack set are harder to find than the standard photo postcard sets you often see for her. I suspect this is the onboard librarian, and this is one of the few times I have seen the bookcases open. $20.
38060 Cephalonia Passenger list
Passenger list for the Cunarder Cephalonia, dated June 17, 1899. This was one of her final voyages for Cunard. By September, she had completed her final voyage and was then used as a Boer War transport. Great condition with some slight staining on the inside. Captain W.H. Pierce in command. $75.
38597 Etruria Passenger List
Passenger list for the Etruria, dated July 23, 1904, under the command of Captain Warr. Aboard for this voyage from New York to Liverpool was James McCubbin, who would later lose his life in the Lusitania disaster. Included is a list of proposed sailings as well as a list of Record Passages and Fastest Ocean Steaming -- all held by Cunarders, of course! Excellent condition. $60.
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Cunard really loved these butterfly-wing souvenirs. This one for Franconia, a beloved name in the Cunard fleet particularly for her round-the-world cruises. In very good condition with a slight loss of iridescence around the edges. $45.
Sterling silver souvenir spoon. Fully hallmarked. Made in Birmingham in the late 1960's. Mint condition. $45.
Ivernia souvenir plate in milk glass. This plate is in good condition, considering it is now over 100 years old. It has the typical “pitting” to the applied painting seen on almost all examples of this type of plate, but fortunately, it doesn’t affect the ship much. Pre-WWI souvenirs for Cunard are getting tough to find. $95.
Sterling silver souvenir spoon from the Laconia's on-board gift shop. Fully hallmarked. Made by James Fenton & Co. in Birmingham in 1925. Don't you love hallmarks? Any reflection in the photo is just that. This spoon is in mint condition. $85.
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Printed sepia card of this doomed Cunarder. Postmarked in New York on July 2, 1927. Bumped corners. $6.
One of the first accounts of the sinking published by a survivor. Written in four parts and released in 1915 by Lusitania survivor Charles Lauriat, Part I gives Lauriat's first-hand account of the sinking as he wrote it home to his relatives on May 12, 1915. Part II goes into more detail about the voyage. Part III are extracts from the Frankfurter Zeitung, a German newspaper, giving the German perspective. Part IV is the formal report of the sinking as issued by the Mersey Inquiry.
Lauriat's own bookstore sticker on the inside. Former owner's book plate on inside front cover. Excellent condition. $95
Amazing 32-page brochure for Lusitania and Mauretania in a very Art Nouveau style. Contains 24 photos, and the brochure is unusual in that it tells us on what voyages all the images were taken. Considering this is a Cunard-produced brochure, it amazes me how many of the photos are misidentified as Mauretania when they are Lusitania and vice versa.
"The hulls below draught line are divided into 175 water-tight compartments, which make [the ships] unsinkable. Hmmm.... I wonder what Cunard would have said about this the day after Lusitania sank....
One of the finest brochures Cunard ever produced for these two flyers! Great condition with a slight tear on the back cover that had been repaired with tape. $275.
Souvenir portrait paperweight as sold in her on-board gift shop. Somewhere down in the sand off the Old Head of Kinsale there are probably paperweights like this one. This example is in better shape that any at the wreck! In good condition with some paint loss. $75.
Original press photo from the International News Service (INS) of one of the mass graves being filled in by soldiers after the funeral service. Measures 8½" x 6½". Excellent condition with the INS stamp on the back. Amazingly evocative image. $195.
Cunard made some very cool post cards in the pre-World War I era. They were called bas relief cards, and had an almost 3D effect because of their very heavy embossing. The furniture and some of the features of the room stand out and give a nice effect. This one shows us the lounge in all its glory. Unused and in very good condition with slight bumping to the corners. $115.
Hard-to-find color rendering card of the Verandah Cafe on board Lusitania and Mauretania. It would have been a lovely room to have tea in on a calm summer crossing. In the winter, not so much! Unused and in very good condition. $55.
Very rare card of Lusitania on the stocks. She had one of the most graceful hulls of any liner. Written on and posted on July 9, 1906, about a month after the launch. In good condition with some discoloring on the front and dirt on the back. $125.
Lovely card of Lusitania as she appeared on her trials. Cunard logo and house flag at the top and the ship's statistics at the bottom. Part of the Rival Photographic series. Written on and posted. In very good condition. $50.
Even at the time they were in service, most people could not tell the difference between Lusitania and Mauretania, and a photo or image of one was frequently substituted for the other. Here's a perfect example. This colorized photo of Lusitania at the time of her trials is being used on a post card for Mauretania. The name Mauretania is spelled correctly at the top, but is misspelled on the ship's hull! Unused and in excellent condition. $35.
She was an absolute beauty! Stunning real photo card of Lusitania getting ready for the first of her sea trials. Look at the smoke belching form the first funnel! Very clear image and would scan and blow up beautifully. Two of these cards available. One has the ship's statistics on the reverse. The other is written on and posted to a sailor on the H.M.S. Hindustan on July 12, 1907. $145 each.
Rather large beaker made to commemorate the sinking of the Lusitania. One slight manufacturing flaw in the sky above the 3rd funnel. Rare so grab it while you can. $295.
What was this little gem used for? Measuring about 1½" high, perhaps it's a tooth pick holder. This bone-china souvenir was made by Carlton China in Stoke on Trent with full marks on the base. Particulars of the sinking on the back. It is hard to tell for sure, but I believe the ship's image might be hand painted. At least some portions are including the bow wave and her funnels. Funnel No. 2 has a slight painter's flaw. There is some slight wear to the gold rim as well. Otherwise excellent condition and very rare. $245.
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Difficult-to-find souvenir spoon as sold in the gift shop of Lusitania. Sterling silver and made by Elkington. Date coded to 1908. (Please keep in mind that Elkington sterling date codes are different from those used for silver plate.) The spoon is surmounted by an absolutely stunning 3-D Cunard logo with the ill-fated liner's name engraved into the bowl. One of the best souvenir items you can get for any company. Beautiful classic design. These were only made, it seems, for the mainline pre-World War one ships. Measures 5" in length. Near-mint condition. $395.
Made from tin, this tip tray is interesting because of the particulars including "time from Queenstown" and the "average speed" listed on it. On her first westward voyage, Lusitania crossed in 5 days 54 minutes at an average speed of 23.01 knots, which is the time and speed listed on the tray. She took the Blue Ribbon on her next westward voyage so it seems that this tray was made right after she arrived in New York on her maiden voyage and before she took the Blue Ribbon. An unusual *very* early souvenir for her. In good condition but two of the upper corners have split. Doesn't really detract considering the rarity. $135.
Letter written on board Lusitania. Discusses things like the Irish women coming on board and selling lace to the passengers. Not dated. Finding letters written on board is getting tough to do. Superb engraving of the ship at the top. $245.
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Unused piece of stationery from one of the most famous liners ever to sail. Wonderful engraving of Lusitania at the top. Mint condition. $75.
