Dear Sara,

In your request, you did not indicate what kind of baselines your colleague wishes to research: normal baseline (low-water line), straight baselines, or archipelagic baselines.  She or he might also wish to examine bay closing lines.

I would not presume to give a comprehensive list of possible references, but those below might be considered.  There are many excellent technical discussions or treatments of current claims that I have not included, because they do not discuss the historical development of baselines in detail.  I trust that other List members will also suggest references.  If you want a comprehensive bibliography of law-of-the-sea references, you might look at
United Nations, Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.  The Law of the Sea: A Bibliography on the Law of the Sea, 1968-1988.  New York: UN, 1991.  It has an exhaustive listing on the various aspects of the Law of the Sea.

The first straight baseline was claimed by Norway in a royal decree of 1935 and featured in the Anglo-Norwegian Fisheries ICJ case of 1951.  The reports of that case would be a starting point.

Straight baselines and archipelagic baselines are discussed in the following:
Prescott, J. R. V. (Victor).  "Delimitation of Marine Boundaries by Baselines, Marine Policy Reports vol. 8, No. 3 (January 1986).
Prescott, J. R. V.  "Straight Baselines: Theory and Practice," draft paper.  -- I don't know if this was ever published, but Victor is an Int-boundaries List member and could comment.
Shalowitz, Aaron, Shore and Sea Boundaries (U.S. Dept. of State, 1962 and 1964, reprinted in 1975).
Tangsubkul, Phiphat, and Dzurek, Daniel J.  "The Emerging Concept of Midocean Archipelagos," Ocean Yearbook 3 (1982), pp. 386-404.
United Nations, Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.  The Law of the Sea: Baselines, An Examination of the Relevant Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  New York: 1989.  Sales No. E.88.V.5, 70 pp.
Whiteman's Digest of International Law - (If I recall, volume 4 dealt with the development of the Law of the Sea and included a good deal on baselines)

If your colleague is interested in bay closing lines, you might try:
Bouchez, L. J.  The Regime of Bays in International Law.  (Sorry, I don't have a year or publisher.)
Strohl, Michell P.  The International Law of Bays.  The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963.

Hope this helps,
Dan

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