1802 1st Edition of The New American Practical Navigator: An Epitome of Navigation, Containing all the Tables Necessary...
Newburyport, MA: Edmund M. Blumt, 1802. 1st Edition. Octavo. Good. Item #18405
1802 1st 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."
Newburyport editions are very scarce as many were burned in the Great Newburyport Fire of 1811, after which printing was moved to New York City.
"Often termed the greatest book in all the history of navigation, this intellectual achievement of our early culture was indispensable to the maritime and commercial expansion of the nineteenth century" (Grolier).
Widely regarded as the most influential work in the history of navigation. Bowditch published his first revision 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.
Rebound in modern brown leather Black title label to spine. Square tight binding. Fold-out map opposite title page, intact with a few professional repairs. Clean interior. Illustrated with copper plate engravings, as well as in text charts and illustrations. Sporadic foxing, more so toward outer pages. Some professional paper repair to half a dozen or so pages toward the rear. 592pp + ads.
Campbell, 3; Howes, B657
Overall an uncommon and early Newburyport 1st Edition of this classic and important nautical work.
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