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There are, of course, two different kinds of paper boats, those that float and those that do not. Both types are included within the same chronology on this page.

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The Paper Boat - 1490 onwards

First appears in the West in 1490 (possibly) and in Japan in 1713.

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1621

In 'The Countesse of Montgomeries Urania', published in 1621, Mary Wroth describes an errant ship: ‘unguided she was, unrul’d, and unman’d, tumbling up and downe, like the Boates boyes make of paper’. Source: Journal of the Northern Renaissance, Issue 8 (2017) - 'Scrutinizing Surfaces ‘A unique instance of art’: The Proliferating Surfaces of Early Modern Paper' by Helen Smith (www.northernrenaissance.org/a-unique-instance-of-art-the-proliferating-surfaces-of-early-modern-paper/). I have not been able to verify this reference from the original source

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The Takarabune - 1704 onwards

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1757

In a letter sent home to his mother from his school on the Isla Real de Leon, dated 10th July 1757, schoolboy Guillermo Pen wrote 'Con esta estratagema les hago callar; y despues para hacerme amigo de ellas, a unos les hago cometas, a otros barcas, navios, pajaros, y otras muchos cosas, todo de papel.' (With this ploy I silence them; and then to make friends with them, I make kites for some, for other boats, ships, birds, and many other things, all of paper.) His letter can be found in 'Entretenimiento de Los Ninos' by Monsieur Rochon, published in Madrid in both Spanish and French in 1779.

Without better descriptions or illustrations, we cannot unfortunately know whether the 'boats, ships and birds' were designs of Guillermo Pen's own devising, or traditional paperfolds such as the Paper Boat or the Cocotte / Pajarita.

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The Chinese Junk / Gondola - 1806 onwards

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1808

On Monday October 24th 1808 Jane Austen wrote a letter to her sister Cassandra which included two references to paper ships, of some undefined kind.

'We do not want amusement: bilbocatch, at which George is indefatigable; spillikins, paper ships, riddles, conundrums, and cards, with watching the flow and ebb of the river, and now and then a stroll out, keep us well employed;'

And

'While I write now, George is most industriously making and naming paper ships, at which he afterwards shoots with horse-chestnuts brought from Steventon on purpose;'

Unfortunately there isinsufficient detail to enable us to know which particular design of paper boat the author was referring to.

(Information provided by Dawn Tucker.)

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According to his friend and biographer Thomas Jefferson Hogg, the romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) had a passion for folding and sailing paper boats which he made from any paper available at hand including letters and the flyleaves of books. There is no direct evidence that these were Paper Boats rather than Chinese Junks but it seems likely that this was the case. Several pages of Volume 1 of Hogg's 'The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley' published in 1858, were devoted to describing this fascination, which seems to have almost amounted to an obsession.

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1820

In July 1820 Shelley wrote a poem 'Letter to Lady Gisborne' which includes the lines: 'And in this bowl of quicksilver - for I / Yield to the impulse of an infancy / Outlasting manhood - I have made to float / A rude idealism of a paper boat:'

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1825

In the 3rd Edition of his book 'Infant Education', published in1825, Samuel Wilderspin included the following anecdote which mentions folding,or rather not folding, a paper boat. Unfortunately this passage contains insufficient detail to enable us to know which particular paper boat the author intended, but was unable, to make.

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Cocotte in a Boat - 1827 onwards

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The Boat with Sail - 1832 onwards

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The Double Boat - 1832 onwards

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1838

Hans Christian Anderson's children's fantasy story 'Den standhaftige soldat' (in English 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier') includes reference to a paper boat. It was first published on October 2, 1838, along with "The Wild Swans" and "The Daisy", as part of the anthology 'Fairy Tales Told to Children New Collection'. In the story two children make a boat out of newspaper, put the tin soldier in it and send it sailing away down the gutter. The paper boat eventually sinks when it fills with water. I have not been able to find whether the original illustrations showed this aspect of the story, and if so which type of boat they showed, although from the fact it was folded from newspaper it seems likely that it was a Paper Boat. The way the boat is folded does not appear to be explained, which argues that Hans Christian Anderson probably believed it would already be familiar to his young readers.

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Another Double Boat - 1873 onwards

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The Ship - 1873 onwards

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1885

A design for a 'kofune' (small boat) appears in 'Kindergarten Shoho' (Preliminary Kindergarten) by Iijima Hanjuro, which was copyrighted on October 4th Meiji 17 (1884) and published by Fukuda Senzo in August of Meiji 18 (1885)

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The Flat Bottomed Boat - 1892 onwards

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The Keelboat - 1893 onwards

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The Double Boat with Sail - 1893 onwards

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The Blunt Ended Boat / Canoe - 1895 onwards

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Shelley's Boat - 1902

J M Barrie's novel 'The Little White Bird', was first published in Scribner's Magazine in America as a monthly serial from August to November November 1902, then as a complete novel by both Hodder & Stoughton in London and Scribner's in November of the same year. Chapter 15, titled 'The Thrush's Nest' includes mention of a paper boat made from a £5 note by a character called Shelley, who is a poet, and presumably intended to be recognised as Percy Bysshe Shelley who had a passion for folding paper boats.

In the story Shelley's boat is simply a device to put both a five pound note and an idea into Peter Pan's mind. A full copy of the book can be accessed here.

Much of this book, including chapter 15, was also included in J M Barrie's later novel 'Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens' which was published in 1906 and illustrated by Arthur Rackham. One of the illustrations shows Solomon and his assistants examining the £5 note. Unfortunately the creases visible on this note do not reveal what kind of paper boat it had been folded into.

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The Double Boat with Two Sails - 1904 onwards

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1908

A boat developed from the form of the Newspaper Hat.appears in 'Origami zusetsu' (Illustrated Origami) by Sano Shozo, was published in Tokyo in 1908.

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The Sailboat - 1910 onwards

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The Sampan - 1912 onwards

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1914

The Clothes Drying Ship

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This 'Sampan' appears in 'Zhe zhi tu shuo' (Illustrated Paperfolding), compiled by Gui Shaolie, which was published by the Commercial Press in Shanghai in Ming guo 3 (1914).

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1917

A design called 'Boatside Eagle', which seems to be a representation of an eagle sitting on the side of a boat, appears in 'Xu Zhe zhi tu shuo' (More Illustrated Paperfolding) by Yongxiang Shi, which was published by the Commercial Press in Shanghai in 1917.

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La Peniche - 1924 onwards

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1935

'Origami Moyo, Book One', by Kawarazaki Kodo, which was published by Unsodo in Japan in 1935, contains a print showing an otherwise unknown paper boat with a sail.

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'Origami Moyo, Book Two' by Kawarazaki Kodo, which was also published in Japan in 1935, contains a print showing an untitled boat with sail. It is not possible to identify this boat with certainty from the print although it may be the Double Boat with Sail.

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The Inside Out Boat - 1948 onwards

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The Yacht - 1951 onwards

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1956

'Paper Magic' by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne in London in 1956 contained diagrams for several paper boats.

Harbin's Boat with Mast.

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Harbin's Boat

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Harbin's 'Submarine'

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1957

The Double-Decker Ship

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A design for a boat with sail called 'Sailboat' appears in 'Origami: Book One' by Florence Sakade, which was published by the Charles E Tuttle Company in Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo in 1957.

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1963

A boat developed from the Paper Dart appears in the second edition of 'Het Grote Vouwboek' by Aart van Breda, which was published by Uitgeverij van Breda in 1963.

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The same book contains a 'Sailboat' folded from a 4x1 strip of paper.

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1964

'Secrets of Origami', by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne Book Company in London in 1964, contains a design called the 'Inside-Out Boat' which is said to be Japanese and to have been collected by Lillian Oppenheimer.

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1970

The 1970 Rupert Manual contained instructions for making 'Rupert's Lightship'. The light is a waterbomb.

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