The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1845 volume has a strong focus on merchant shipping, especially the welfare of merchant seamen and their families. China also receives significant coverage, including a serialised description of Shanghai. Other topics covered include international action against the slave trade and the 'lamentable failure' of the season's potato crop, which heralded Ireland's Great Famine, as well as the usual Navy reports. This volume reprints 'by request' several instalments of 'a sailor's advice to his son' from the 1833 volume, and also describes the departure in June of the ill-fated Franklin expedition, whose consequences were to dominate the journal for many years.
