Hunt's Yachting Magazine. Volumes 1 - 29

London: August, 1852 - December, 1880. 29 volumes, large 8vo (approx. 23 cm); an immaculate set, uniformly bound in half black morocco over boards with raised bands and gold spine decoration, top edges gilt. Each volume contains the bookplate of Charles Plumptre Johnson, a noted yachtsman of his day and Physician-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria. Hunt's Universal Yacht List was an international register of yachts was the predecessor to, and inspiration for Hunt's Yachting Magazine, which began publication in 1852. The run of 29 volumes on offer here is complete, with no volumes or issues missing between 1852 and 1880. (The magazine continued until 1887 but the last 7 years are not included in this lot.) Hunt's is the premiere early source of information about English, Irish, Canadian, and American yachting - including news of the America's Cup (with a color lithograph of the "America" vs. the "Alarm" in vol. 10, 1861). There is news of club activities, technical information about, and illustrations of, yachts, plans of yachts, information and illustrations on design and construction, laws of management, racing results and rules, yacht signals, hardware and fittings, sails, charts of courses and locations of shipwrecks, book reviews, and virtually every other aspect of yachting in the mid-19th century. These informative articles are accompanied by hundreds of engraved plates, lithographs and charts, many folding, and all in excellent condition.