My Newest Ancre Books Acquisition – Le Coureur Monograph

I’m exited that my newest purchase from French publisher Ancre Books (Ancre.fr) arrived at the end of last week. I have other Ancre monographs, but this particular subject is simple enough that an actual model constructed from these plans might actually see the light of day here.

I was finally in a position to make the purchase, so in the middle of last month, I placed my order. Also, I’ve had to wait for a long time for this english language version to be released. It’s been out for a while now, but when it was released, buying it just wasn’t in the stars for me. Now, it is.

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New Ancre Titles in 2019

It’s been a while now since both Jean Budriot and Hubert Berti have passed away, but Ancre books has continued to publish new titles and add new language versions to existing ones, and for some reason, I’m having a hard time keeping tabs on them. Their work keeps slipping under my radar, so I’m not quite sure what exactly I’ve missed.

But, I did get an announcement of two new titles this year, as well as the release of their 2020 calendar.

The first one, which I believe was released some months ago, is a monograph on the Louise, an Argenteuil racing yacht of 1878. The photos showing the author’s model look truly beautiful. I can’t imagine that I could make a model that looks this good. But, the subject looks intrinsically beautiful, so it would be hard to go wrong with it.

This book is available in English as well as in French, Spanish, or Italian, and at 68€, it’s one of the less expensive monographs published by Ancre. The book is 52 pages and includes 10 sheets of plans at 1/15 scale.

 

The second monograph announced is the Aries lighter, a French riverboat of 1833. This boat is a flat-bottomed tartan or tartanee, a small mediterranean sailing ship that was apparently quite popular in the 17th through the 19th centuries.

This 144-page monograph includes 16 sheets of drawings in 1/48 and 1/96 scales. It’s available in English, French, or Italian and will be available at the end of this month (November). It looks like it will have an introductory price of 89€ through the end of 2019. After that, the price will go up to 97€.

For more info on these, visit https://ancre.fr/en/

These both look like they will make great scratch build projects, or just more books to add to that growing collection of nifty stuff to have on the shelf! Ω

New Titles from Ancre Books

Just heard from Ancre.fr announcing their latest releases. It’s nice to see new titles, even after Mr. Hubert Berti’s passing. Of course, most of the books are non-english titles. These include a 478-page French directory of French Merchant Ships from 1848 to 1871; a couple books in Italian/French on nautical nomenclature; a book on building and maneuvering lateen rigged ships and boats – that will be nice to see in English, but is currently only in French and Italian; and a Spanish version of the monograph on the Hermione (already available in English).

The one that stands out most, is a new English language version of the monograph of the French light frigate Aurore of 1697 by Jean-Claude LEMINEUR.

This work includes 31 plates, which I assume means 31 sheets of plans, in 1/48 scale, with a price of 115 €. A 20-sheet set of plans are available separately in 1/36 scale for 90 €.

This is a beautiful looking ship, and it’s nice to see a detailed monograph on small ship of this period. Ω

 

 

New Ancre Books Title – N.S. del Rosario Feluca 1759

I just got a notice from Ancre Books of France of a new Monograph on the Nostra Signora del Rosario, a typical sardine-fishing felucca of Sanremo, built in 1759.

The monograph, written by Franco Fissoro and translated by Francois Fougerat, is 200 pages of detailed information, with 130 of those pages are on the construction of the model. The book appears to be loaded with photos, includes 8 full-color pages, and includes 20 plates in 1/36 scale detailing the frames. The cost is 110 Euros plus shipping.

You can see more details about this new volume on Ancre’s site here: https://ancre.fr/en/monographies-en/87-ns-del-rosario-feluca-1759.html

 

Ancre Books – Fall 2017 Update

Ancre is a French publisher of ship modeling and marine related historical books that, for decades, has featured the works by Bernard Frölich, the late Jean Boudriot, the late Hubert Berti, and others. These are very detailed works that, aside from used copies, are available only direct from the publisher.

The last time I posted news about Ancre, they had just released their two volumes on the French frigate l’Hermione, back in 2015. That was about the same time that I managed to grab a copy of Bernard Frölich’s The Art of Shipmodeling from a used book dealer, so I no longer have to covet my friends copy.

Since then, I haven’t really paid too much attention to what they’ve been up to, but I received an email from them about a week ago announcing a new english language version of their book on French Naval Artillery 1650-1850. Maybe it’s just that I haven’t visited their site in a while, but looking at their site today, it seems like they’ve expanded their offerings.

Check out their website at https://ancre.fr or you can see a quick overview of their offering on their order form here. Or, if you’d like to see an overview of their english language offerings, you can download this 20-page pdf here. Ω

 

New Titles from Ancre Books

Just received an email from Ancre.fr while I was typing my last post. They just announced their latest releases, two books on the French frigate L’Hermione, which is the ship that carried Lafayette to America to help in the fight for Independence. One book is on the history of the ship Hermione and of Lafayette and French actions in the American War of Independence. The other book is a monograph on the construction of the ship. Both will apparently be available in French, English and Italian.

The English versions of the books look to be available after the first of the year and Ancre is offering a 10% discount on them through the end of February 2016. After that they will have a regular price of 59 Euros for the History book and 120 Euros for the Monograph. Ω

 

 

Hubert Berti of Ancre Books Passed Away

The saddest news of late is that Hubert Berti recently passed away. Not everyone may be familiar with Ancre Books, but he published several titles including ones that he collaborated on. Titles include Jean Boudriout’s work on the French 74 Gun Ship: Vaisseau de 74 Canons 1780; his  monograph on the Bonhomme Richard: Monographie du Bonhomme Richard – 1779; and many others.

 

I’m not sure if Mr. Berti had been ill, but it might explain a problem I’ve been having with an order I’d placed a couple months ago. Fortunately, it seems that his son Didier Berti is taking care of the business now. With Mr. Hubert Berti gone, hopefully his son will allow us to continue to access the wonderful work his father produced.

For those interest in the Ancre titles, you can review and order them online. It is in French, but most of the content of the site can be accessed in English as well: http://ancre.fr