by Terri Bey
The book of the month for January is "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent Vols 1 & 2," written by Bruce Beveridge, Scott Andrews, Steve Hall, Daniel Klistorner, and Art Braunschweiger. This book comes in a two-volume set, the first of which discusses the design and construction and the second describes the interior design and fitting out. This blog is going to be a little different as I have only just started to read the first volume. I am going to make this blog a photoblog and give my readers an overall impression of this book as I have looked through both volumes.
My overall impression of "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent Vols 1 & 2" is that if you want to know anything about the RMS Titanic, this is your book. This book is the "Titanic Bible," if you will. I looked through the book and I was in awe of how detailed it was. There were charts, drawings, and photos of how the Titanic was built and fitted out. If you are a "techie" and love the construction aspects, this is your book. If you love architecture and interior design, you will enjoy this book. The authors had to use photos of the Olympic, as there is a lack of photos of Titanic for certain things like the interiors. I will say that this book is very detailed and the reader needs to pay attention. However, when I looked through it, I was amazed at all the details and information I could find out about the Titanic.
Here are some photos of the book. All photos were taken by me.
The Two-Volume Set of "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent" and the case they come in.
The "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent" Vol 1 Back Cover
The "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent" Vol 2 Back Cover
Image from "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent" Vol 1: Chapter Four: "Frames, Beams, and Pillars," Page 80. This is a photo of the construction of the Titanic's Shelter Deck. (The Engineer/Authors' collection)
When I saw this photo and others like it, I wanted to read more of this book. I was becoming very fascinated by how the great liner was built.
From "Titanic: The Ship Magnificent," Vol 2: Chapter One, "A Palatial Hotel," Page 21 This a page from a Second Class Passenger List and Information Booklet from Olympic, c. 1920 (Peter Davies-Garner collection)
When I looked through the second volume, I found it more fascinating than the first, as, in this volume, the reader learns about the fitting out of the ship. I particularly loved the images of the cabins and suites, even though many of them were of the Olympic, including this Booklet from the Olympic in the above photo, because of a lack of Titanic photos, as I said previously. There were more photos of the Olympic as she was the first ship built from the Olympic Class Liners.
Even though this blog is just a generalized overview of the book, I would highly recommend this book. It really is a masterpiece.
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