The timber problem began to fade, as described in this book by James Phinney Baxter, with the Introduction of the Ironclad Warship. This 1933 book takes us to the early days of ironclad ships, including photographs and sketches, through information found in British, French and American archives. Item 004091. $74.50. While most of the ironclads still used wooden hulls, this would come to an end within a few decades of the introduction of those ships. Item 004123 provides a look at the early American steel-hulled ships: The American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet. 1907-1909. This extensive survey was written by John Doughty Alden and published in 1972. $105.

The high mark of naval warfare would come in World War II. Item 004108 is the first American edition of a very comprehensive work on this period: Naval Weapons of World War Two, by John Campbell, published in 1985. It includes over 500 illustrations and 350 tables of data for those interested in the details of naval weaponry during this worldwide conflict. $325.

Item 004069 is an enormous collection of the magazine of the U.S. Naval Institute, United States Naval Institute Proceedings. Included are over 950 issues, many from 1903-1926, and almost all issues from 1929 through August 2006. There is a wealth of information about the U.S. Navy during the 20th century in these pages. $3,750.

You may reach Eveleigh Books and Stamps at 508-785-0931 or estein@aol.com.