23148b. Baker, T. Lindsay. LIGHTHOUSES OF TEXAS. College Station . 1991. 128 p. DJ. A significant work focuses on the history of Texas ’ ten light stations over the years. Detailed text coupled with vintage photographs present the reader with a full account of their design and construction, the engineers, inspectors, keepers and their families, repairs, their roles during the Civil War, and much more. Beautifully presented and thoroughly researched and documented. Extremely difficult to find today. (VG+). $78 net.
1284. (document) Half Moon Shoal Lighthouse, Galveston, Texas c.1877. Early document details cordwood purchased and delivered to Half Moon Shoal Lighthouse, Galveston, Texas. Item listed is “1 cord oak wood” at a cost of $5.50. Dated May 18, 1877. Document is signed by C.M. Schoonmaker USN Commander, who was inspector of the 8th Lighthouse District. It is signed in receipt by the supplier, Bryant Pennington who could not write his name, so made his mark “X”. The light station was built in 1854 on Half Moon Shoal in Galvaston Bay. The lighthouse was a red and white painted frame structure with galleries surrounding the main portion of the building and a captain's walk around the light. A bell served as a fog warning device. Decommissioned during the Civil War, the lighthouse was returned to service in 1868 and provided hazard warnings until the disastrous 1900 storm, when a steamship broke free from its mooring and drifted into the structure, destroying it and killing keeper Charles K. Bowen. Document is in good condition, some toning, aging. Measures 7 x 8 ¼”. (VG). $48.
ERS-119. (chart) SABINE PASS, TEXAS. Coast Chart Nos. 519. First published 1888. Corrected to 1897. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Scale 1/20,000. Large 21”wide x 27” high, original b/w on paper Coast Survey chart includes all of the river from Texas Point and Louisiana Point north past Sabine Pass Light to Sabine Pass. The bay and river has numerous shoals and buoys. Included on the chart are ranges and bearings, tides and currents for the area, and soundings, as well as all lighthouses and buoys (marked in red and black), wrecks, as are towns and features. Chart is in good used condition, overall light to moderate soiling with light wear, moisture to one side. Otherwise unusually good for a chart that has been in use for 110 years. Should clean and flatten nicely. Shipped rolled. (VG). $45.
Original Lighthouse Photography by Bruce Roberts.
Bruce Roberts has been a well known and respected lighthouse historian, photographer and author since the subject gained the nation’s interest in the 1980’s. The former Director of Photography and Senior Photographer at Southern Living Magazine, Bruce was also a member of the legendary 1960s photo staff of The Charlotte Observer, which pioneered the use of the 35mm camera and natural light for newspaper photography. For over twenty years, lighthouses have become his favorite subject. His renowned lighthouse photography has appeared in hundreds of books and magazines including Southern Lighthouses and American Lighthouses. Bruce has also done freelance photography for Life Magazine, Sports Illustrated and many others. He has coauthored numerous best selling lighthouse books as well as numerous other historical books. His photography is respected world wide and some are part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. He is also a founding charter member of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society . “Bruce Roberts has earned the right to be acknowledged as one of our era’s most important photojournalists, and although he seldom displays them, he has a room full of awards to prove it.” says co-author Ray Jones.
We have been most fortunate to obtain from Mr. Roberts a selection of his early lighthouse photographs done for his first lighthouse series with Globe Pequot; Northern Lighthouses and Southern Lighthouses. These prints were hand printed by Mr. Roberts at the time and all bear his signature on the back. They are all printed on double weight fiber based paper of the same type used for museum archival printing. All are silver prints done by hand and tray processed – an art that is fast fading away today, being replaced by digital photography. Because of the process and paper used, these museum quality prints will last a hundred years into the future.
We have shown just a few here but this medium does not do them justice. When matted and framed, you will have a lovely work of art for your wall. Many more are available. Please ask for specific stations noted above and we will email you images available and pricing.
Drum Point (Md), Ponce Inlet (Fl), Jupiter Inlet (Fl), Tybee Island (Ga), Boca Grande (Fl), Hooper's Strait (Md), Sand Island (Al). Please inquire for pricing.
6332-30. U. S. Lighthouse Service. LIST OF BEACONS, BUOYS, STAKES AND OTHER DAY-MARKS IN THE EIGHTH LIGHT HOUSE DISTRICT 1879. Wash. 1879. 17 p. Soft wraps. Includes all of the coastline of the Eight Light House District from Mobile, Ala., to the Rio Grande, Texas. Includes descriptions of lights and light vessels, buoys, fog signals as well as other important information. Includes location, height above water, distance seen, candlepower, description of structure, and more. Some soiling and chipping to wraps, light foxing, contents unusually clean and intact. Very difficult to find these early lists and well worth the search. Excellent resource. (VG-). $58.
6332-5. Lighthouse Service. LIGHT LIST INCLUDING FOG SIGNALS ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 1930. Wash. 507pp. Desirable listing includes detailed information on all lighthouses, lightships, post lights and other aids to navigation including location, characteristics, order of light, apparatus or illuminant, height, color and peculiarities, fog signal information, and much more. Soft wraps unusually intact, only some wear and soiling. Contents quite clean, tight. Very difficult to find these early Lighthouse Service lists. (VG+) $58.
Page updated January 10, 2017 .
All text and illustrations on web site Ó James W. Claflin . 01/10/2017 All rights reserved. Use prohibited without written permission.