The New American Practical Navigator; Being an Epitome of Navigation; Containing All the Tables Necessary to Be Used with the Nautical Almanac, in Determining the Latitude; and the Longitude by Lunar Observations; and Keeping a Complete Reckoning at Sea...
Newburyport, MA: Edward Little & Co., 1811. 3rd Edition. 8vo. Very Good. Item #17862
A scarce and very nice 1811 3rd Edition of the most influential navigator in American history.
The 1811 edition was printed with four variants, the first issue in Newburyport, the last three in New York City. This is the first issue, printed at Newburyport with the place of publication printed on the title page as well as the 'Newburyport Fire' statement on the prelim as called for by Campbell.
Widely regarded as the most influential work in the history of navigation. Bowditch published his first revision of the of the navigator by J.H. Moore in 1799. Discovering more than 8000 errors, in the work of Moore, Bowditch decided to publish his own work, "The New American Practical Navigator", in 1802 and it quickly became the preeminent and most used work on celestial and maritime navigation. Bowditch's work has been updated and published every year since and is still published today.
This was the last issue published in Newburyport.
Contemporary full sheep with titling and ruling stamped in gilt. Folding map at front. xiii, [3], 1-276, 619-653, [5]. Square tight binding, Clean interior, save for previous owner name and date on front end paper. First few prelims with the upper half separated, but lower half still sewn in.
Mild rubbing and edge wear to binding. Mild to moderate foxing throughout. Spine darkened with age and a bit brittle.
Overall, an attractive and important issue of Bowditch's defining work.
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