1851 Edition of The American Practical Navigator: An Epitome of Navigation, Containing all the Tables....
New York: E. & G.W Blumt, 1851. Octavo. Very Good. Item #17966
1851 edition of what Howes calls the "First accurate navigator's guide' and an institution in Nautical writing, possibly the most important navigator in American history."
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.
Contemporary full calf binding with red title label to spine. Square tight binding. Titling and ruling in gilt. Fold-out map at front. Binding with mild rubbing and edge wear. 458pp + ads. Sporadic light foxing throughout. Contemporary plate from the Boston shop of Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr., Mathematical Instrument Maker and Nautical Stationer.
Lincoln (1817 - 1898) was an American manufacturer and politician, serving as the sixteenth and eighteenth mayor of Boston from 1858 to 1860 and 1863–1867, respectively.
Frederick Douglass criticized him for not protecting, with city police, a December 1860 public meeting in Boston to discuss abolitionism. The meeting was broken up by a pro-slavery mob. On July 14, 1863, Lincoln ordered all 330 officers in the Boston Police Department to quell a draft riot among Irish Catholics attempting to raid Union armories in the North End.
Interior clean, save for a contemporary signature in pencil to front flyleaf.
Profusely illustrated with charts and graphs.
Overall an uncommon and very nice edition of this classic and important nautical work.
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