Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 3).djvu/653

 *fectly well which of their ships were built of seasoned oak, whether the planks were well put together, or fastened with tree-nails or copper bolts, and how they were caulked, fitted, and equipped. Nor is it at all unreasonable to suppose that some sort of record of all these facts was kept for their guidance. It would, indeed, be contrary to the instincts of human nature, where self-interest has always prevailed, if no such notes were taken and likewise recorded.

What particular form the earliest attempts at classification took must be left entirely to conjecture, the first traces of the existence of Register Books devoted specially to this purpose not appearing until about the middle of the last century. The oldest Register Books of which I have any knowledge are those preserved at Lloyd's Register of Shipping, White Lion Court, Cornhill, and although the series is far from complete, and probably can never be made complete, an examination of them is both interesting and instructive. The earliest book preserved there is dated 1764-5. In it the classes assigned were denoted by the letters A, E, I, O, and U, which seem as now to have applied to the state of the ship's hull, and the letters G, M, and B, appended, which applied to the equipment. These latter denoted—G, good; M, middling; and B, bad. Thus, A G denoted a first-class ship with a good equipment; and U B denoted a ship of the lowest class with a bad equipment.

The next book, in point of age, here, is dated 1768-9, and, instead of the capital letters A, E, I, O, U, denoting the class of the ship, as in the earlier book, the small letters a, b, c, appear, while the figures 1, 2 denoted the state of the equipment. Thus, a 1 denoted a first-class ship with a first-class equipment; b 2 denoted a second-class ship with a second-class equipment, &c.

The next Register Book in point of age, preserved, is dated 1775, and, in this book, the Roman capitals appear again for the hulls, while the figures 1 and 2 remain for the equipment. This, as far as I can learn, is the earliest book preserved containing the class A 1, which has become so familiar now, just a century from what appears to have been its first adoption.

On comparing the three books above mentioned, the curious fact is disclosed that the 1764 book does not belong to the same series as the 1768 and the 1775 books. The front cover and first pages of all three books are missing, but there is sufficient internal evidence to show clearly that the two later books form part of the series known as the 'Underwriters' Register,' which