Yankee 1930.

Superb pictorial record of the US yacht Yankee, built for a syndicate of members of the Eastern Yacht Club to compete for the right to defend the America's Cup. This celebration of the boat was organized by John Silsbee Lawrence who put together the syndicate, and issued in perhaps a handful of copies to syndicate members. Of the 19 prints 5 have the studio wet-stamps of the renowned Rosenfeld Studio showing through the linen backing verso, and another 6 the blind stamps of Edwin Levick, his negative numbers verso. Levick, truly the dean of American maritime photography, who trained the elder in Rosenfeld in the craft, died in 1929 these images would be among his last work. The uncredited shots which complete the album show no tapering off in quality, and include some wonderful images of the crew on and below deck, and one spectacular "abstract" of the mask viewed vertically from the deck. Yankee was one of 4 J-Class yachts launched in 1929 to meet Lipton's challenge for the America's Cup. The others were Enterprise and Weetamoe, launched from the Herreshoff yard in Bristol, RI, and Whirlwind, along with Yankee from the yard of George Lawley & Sons, Boston, Yankee challenged for the right to defend the Cup in 1930, 1934, and 1937, but never made the finals. She sailed to England in 1935, the only US J to do so, racing Gerald Lambert's schooner Atlantic and winning by 17 hours. Yankee raced in England, taking eight first-place finishes in 32 races. She was scrapped in 1941, having Tobin bronze plating she presumably had considerable wartime value as scrap. Landscape folio (209 x 260 mm). 19 original gelatin silver prints, the first 248 x 173mm, the rest c. 200 x 250 mm "8 x 10", all linen-backed and linen stub-mounted. Black hard-grain morocco, title as above gilt to front cover, pale grey endpapers. Overall slightly rubbed, particularly at corners and spine ends, head of spine pulled and a little fragile, endpapers lifted at hinges, but hinges sound, one print with a couple of scrapes, the rest unmarked, altogether very good.…