MAURETANIA: 1939 - Dramatic launch brochure from 1938

Cunard Line: The famous 1938 launch brochure for the MAURETANIA in eye-popping lavender. The ship's name is elegantly embossed on the cover along with an image of the ship. Inside, the end papers are a textured lilac while the remaining thirty-six pages are glossy. Fold-out pages abound, beginning on page two where there is a large T.F. Atherton sketch of the ship under construction at the Cammell Laird Shipyard. The text is a glowing tribute to Cunard, to the first MAURETANIA, and to the new ship. The author was E. Keble Chatterton, a maritime writer who still has a following today, sixty-five years after his death. Obviously he was paid to say nice things, but it is still a great read. Portraits of Cunard Chairman Sir Percy Bates, Lady Bates (who christened the ship) and other notables are interspersed with the text. A special treat are the many Stewart Bale b&w photos. Stewart Bale Limited was a photography company whose ship pictures are highly prized today. Photos show the