Page 8 - The Ashley Book of Knots

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

typed instructions and is probably the largest MATTHEW WALKER KNOT that

has ever been tied.

To Rodman Swift, who sailed before the mast to China one June morning

just after his graduation from Harvard University, thereby gaining an A.B.

degree twice in the same year; a record not equaled even by Richard H. Dana,

Jr., of Two Years Before the Mast fame. In recent years he and I have tied

many knots together and the discussions that ensued have helped to settle

many a debated point.

One institution I wish to thank in particular, The Mariners' Museum, of

Newport News, Vir~inia, and also its President, Mr. Homer L. Ferguson,

whose interest in the mariner and the sea has included knots, and whose en-

couragement of my research and writing has been one of the largest con-

tributing factors to the completion of my task. While this work has been in

preparation the museum has rendered material assistance by purchasing a

number of my marine paintings.

Many of the illustrations have been drawn from old sailors' knot work

that forms a part of the museum's permanent exhibit.