The Boat Cove Chronicle
or The Illustrated Mariner’s Gazetteer
The Boat Cove Chronicle is a printed maritime newspaper that faithfully recreates the experience of receiving news in 1750. Created by artist and writer, Neil Parker.
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Bringing you Maritime News as if this year were 1750!
Imagine a time before instant updates and breaking news alerts, a time when tidings arrived not via the Internet or mobile app, but by the wind and the tide, carried on the backs of weary travellers and the sails of grand ships. A story from a faraway port could be months old before it ever reached your ears, each detail savoured all the more for the wait.
The Boat Cove Chronicle captures this feeling. Maritime stories are dated as if the news just arrived from across the oceans. The paper includes researched articles on all manner of marine tales and news subjects, from maritime history and sailing and shipping to unusual sealife.
Each edition is faithfully printed as a genuine newspaper and written and illustrated as if the year were 1750.
Only Available in Print
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Written in Old-English
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Hand Illustrated
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Only Available in Print • Written in Old-English • Hand Illustrated •
News from around the Globe!
The Boat Cove Chronicle brings you the news from England and across the globe. You'll find maritime tales of grand discoveries, harrowing voyages, and the day-to-day happenings of our world across the seas. All written in the beautiful, evocative Old English prose of the 18th century, and brought to life with original illustrations in the style of the era.
In 1750, newspapers often had two names, which is why The Boat Cove Chronicle is also called The Illustrated Mariner’s Gazetteer.
The paper features Neil Parker’s evocative artwork and maps that enhance the narrative by adding locations to stories. These illustrations are created in an 18th-century style, with some being available to buy as wall art prints.
The Illustrated Mariner’s Gazetteer
Hand-Crafted Stories
The Boat Cove Chronicle news stories and articles are all created by me, Neil Parker. I am fascinated by maritime stories, art and history.
I research articles from books and authoritative sources, written in modern English, and then rewritten in 18th-century Old English.
I illustrate the text, creating each illustration with pen and pencil on paper.
I add authenticity to the Old English articles by using the long ‘S’, a type character that was used in printed papers around 1750. The long ‘S’ looks similar to the ‘f’ character and replaces any ‘s’ characters used in the middle of words.
I then painstakingly design the newspaper by hand in an 18th-century layout, replicating the unusual emphasis on certain words, such as names of people, towns or countries, using italics, capitals, and justified spacing.
Each page is crafted with design skill. Paragraphs, words, type style, illustrations and flourishes are all visually designed by hand and eye.
The modern English articles are made publicly available on this website. Old English articles are published only in printed form, as they were in 1750.
The finalised issue is then printed on newsprint paper at 18 x 16 inches.
I hope you enjoy it!
Neil a.k.a. Nelly
Get The Boat Cove Chronicle
Buy the print-only newspaper and experience maritime news as if it were 1750.
“What a brilliant idea, it was so well put together.
Also, we like how you combine history with up-to-date stories, but written in the old-world way”
Alan W, Australia