BOOKS
If you like figureheads, you want illustrated books about them!
Books about Figureheads & Other Hull Art.
-Brewington, M.V. (1962). Shipcarvers of North America. Significant work. Cover figure called ""Pocahontas" is not generally accepted as the work of William Rush despite that attribution.
-Carr Laughton, L.G., Old Ship Figure-Heads & Sterns. Recommended. In addition to figureheads, this book (now in reprint) covers a myriad of other ship carvings, eg catheads, hancing pieces, etc.
-Costa, Giancarlo (1980) GLI ANGELI di legno Il Libro completo delle polene. United Nautical Publishers, Basel. Text in Italian. An English version is available as well.
-Craig, James A. (2014) AMERICAN EAGLE: THE BOLD ART & BRASH LIFE OF JOHN HALEY BELLAMY (Portsmouth Marine Society). 212 p. Hold on to it if you can find it! Well-written & informative. His eagle figurehead with 22' wing span is at The Mariners' Museum, Newport News.
-Cutileiro, Alberto (1998) As Galeotas Reais. (Edições Inapa, SA., Lisbon).
-Coatalen, Paul J. (1982) The Decorated Boats of Kelantan An Essay on Symbolism. (Penerbit Univversiti Sains Malaysia for School of Social Sciences, Penang).
-DANSKE ORLOGSSKIBE 1680-1860 contains elegant drawings of Danish figureheads. Text Danish, some English.
-Dreyer, Andreas (1982) "En Af Disse Saare Nyttige Mænd..." Kunstmaler Johan Ludvig Losting 1810-1876. (Ved Bergens Skillingsbanks). Text in Norwegian.
-Ekblom, Björn (1993) GALJONS-FIGUREN. Bokförlaget abacus, Mariehamns Tryckeri Ab. (Text Swedish.)
-Fried, Frederick (1970) Artists in Wood. (Bramhall House, New York)
-Frere-Cook, Gervis (1966) The Decorative Arts of the Mariner. (Little, Brown and Company, Boston and Toronto).
-Hansen, Hans Jurgen (1979) GALIONSFIGUREN.. This book creates s roadmap for finding figureheads in the world. I consider it an outstanding resource for photos and brief information. Text in German.
-Hansen, Hans Jürgen and Clas Broder Hansen (1990) Ships' Figureheads. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Pennsylvania.
-Hocker, Fred (2011) Vasa A Swedish Warship. (Medströms Bokförlag, Stockholm). Excellently illustrated, this details the abundant hull carvings on the recovered 1628 warship VASA in social, political, and artistic contexts.
-Kruissink, G.R. (1977) SCHEEPSSIER. (Hollandia b.v. Baarn). Text in Dutch.
-Les Génies de la Mer (2001). Musée du Québec, Musée de la Marine.
-Mason, Adelbert (1999) HERALD BEFORE THE MAST The Life and Works of John W. Mason 19th Century Shipcarver. (Audenreed Press, a division of Biddle Publishing Company, Brunswick, ME 04011).
-National Maritime Museum (1984 August) 'VALHALLA' The Tresco SHIPS' FIGUREHEAD COLLECTION. Outstations Series No. 1.
-Negre, Pierre Lucien (1989) Décorations & Figures de Proue. (Rupella-P.L.Nègre).
-Norton, Peter (1972) figureheads. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.)
-Norton, Peter (1972) stte barges. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.)
-Norton, Peter. (1976) Ships' Figureheads. (New York). Useful for photos, information.
-Pardal, Paulo (1974) Carrancas Do São Francisco. (Rio de Janeiro)
-Peters, Andrew (2013) Ship Decoration 1630-1780. (Great Britain).Recommended for perspective from its author,a well-recognized 21st c. carver, and for photos, and breadth of coverage.
-Pinckney, Pauline (1940) American Figureheads and Their Carvers. New York. An important early work 20th century work on figureheads, with some items needing correction.
-Poulsen, Hanne (1977) Figureheads and Ornaments on Danish Ships and in Danish Collections. (Rhodos International Science and Art Publishers, Copenhagen).
-Prichard, Sue and Jeremy Michell (2020) FIGUREHEADS on the bow of the ship. (National Maritime Museum, London.)
-Pulvertaft, David (2009) The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth. (The History Press, Great Britain.)
-Pulvertaft, David (2020) A Flight of Figureheads from British Warships at The Box, Plymouth. Written to accompany an exhibit. Includes photos of figureheads and designs of figureheads.
-Rittmeister, Wolfgang (1958) Neptuns Hölzerne Engel Schöne Alte Galionsfiguren. (Bei Hans Dulk, Hamburg). Text in German.
-Sessions, Ralph (2005). The Shipcarvers' Art. (Princeton University Press, Princeton & Oxford.)
-Sjøvold, Thorleif (1985) The Viking Ships in Oslo (Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo).
-Soop, Hans. The Power and the Glory The Sculptures of the Warship Wasa (1992). Stockholm.
-State Street Trust Co. (n.d.) Ship Figureheads and other wood carving art in the Nautical Collection of the State Street Trust Co. (Boston, The Rand Press)
-The Art of the Shipcarver at the Peabody Museum of Salem (1977). The American Neptune Pictorial Supplement XIX, published by The Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.
-Thomas, P.N. (1995) British Figureheads & Ship Carvers (England). Significant contribution showing costs, trade cards, vessel descriptions, etc. Individual paragraphs per carver.
-Wiese, Eigel (1999) Galionsfiguren. (HEEL Verlag GmbH). In German.
Other written works about Figureheads, Other Hull Art, & Carvers.
-Mario Béland, “CÔTÉ, JEAN-BAPTISTE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed May 14, 2021, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cote_jean_baptiste_13E.html.
-Green, Catherine (2003). Nineteenth-Century North American Figureheads From The Mariners' Museum Collection: An Historical Overview, and a Study of Twenty-Two Carvings in the Museum's Collection (under the direction of Dr. Timothy J. Runyan, Department of History, July 2003). This can be downloaded from East Carolina University's site thescholarship.ecu.edu.
-Olsen, Carol
--(1984). Nineteenth & Twentieth Century Figureheads at Mystic Seaport Museum. Master's Thesis, Texas A&M University.https://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/olsen.html
--(1989). Dragon Racing: A 2000-Year-Old Tradition Flourishes in Hong Kong, SEA HISTORY, No. 50, Summer 1989, pp 36-37. https://issuu.com/seahistory/docs/sh_050_summer-1989/38
--(2002) Literary Masterpieces in Wood, SEA HISTORY, No. 101 Summer2002, pp 15-18. https://issuu.com/seahistory/docs/sh_101_summer-2002/17
-Reyde, Folke (1974) JOHAN TöRNSTROM bondpojken från Tortuna som blev Kungl. bildhuggare i Karlskrona (Tortuna Hembygdsförening).