Message in a Model: Stories From the Marine Model Room of the Rijksmuseum by Ab Hoving

Imagine being paid to pursue your hobby of model ship building in a famous museum holding hundreds of projects waiting to be worked on. Well, for twenty nine years Ab Hoving had that pleasure at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam where he was the head ship model builder and restorer. Ab and his team worked on exhibits in what is now the restored maritime gallery of this great museum.

For those of you who do not know him, Ab is one of the foremost ship historians and model builders of our time. His books and articles have illuminated our knowledge of seventeenth century ship building and his modeling skills speak for themselves.

In this book Ab has selected fifty four subjects out of the hundreds in the museum collection to tell about in words and pictures. Not only will you see a wide scope of subjects displayed in color but you will get Ab’s research on the stories and histories behind each one.

This book has been translated by Paul Fontenoy, editor of the Nautical Research Journal, from the Dutch version that was published last year and is faithfully reproduced in the US using Ab’s son Emiel Hoving’s design and layout. What a joyous and beautiful way to close out a career. I know he will remain very active in his own projects and that we will hear from him in the future.