The Compagnie générale transatlantique, shipowner for Caribbean coastal trade,first title in the Documents series of young publisher Scitep, has just been issued.Its author, Roger Jaffray was marine officer of the merchant navy, thenadministrator for Maritime affairs from 1960 to 1988, including some 15 years in theFrench West Indies and Guyana. He has been living in Martinique since 1988, wherefrom he keeps looking into the changes in local maritime life. For my part, I had thehonor and pleasure to make the watercolour painting of this book's cover.

Scitep is a publisher on contemporary general knowledge (SCIences, TEchniquesand Patrimony), who endeavours to give resources of the French Carribbeandepartements the importance they deserve in the national cultural landscape.“Documents”, first series of reference books, will be followed by another seriesment for a wider audience.