Book Review – ‘The Statenjacht Utrecht 1746’ by Ab Hoving (ed.) and Cor Emke (plans)

Abstract

The Netherlands, it is claimed developed the world’s first co-ordinated transport system in 1632 when construction started on their comprehensive system of canals and inland waterways. Such connections were vital as the country was a republic of constituent states each operating with considerable autonomy but collaborating closely on key matters like foreign policy or finance. Regular meetings of government officials required that barges suitable both for being hauled along canals and also for sailing across the wider Dutch waters were available for use as ‘the sailing statelimousines of the Dutch Golden Age’. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a new type of ship was developed, now known as the Jacht, and it served the dual purpose of giving genteel transportation to senior government officials and also offering pleasure sailing to the wealthier classes. It was on craft like these that the Russian tsar, Peter the Great honed his sailing skills while on his grand embassy to the Netherlands at the end of the seventeenth century….

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Filed under: Eighteenth Century
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design