Navigation

England, 1813. Half Calf. Marbled Boards. . Very Good. An exceptional manuscript on the basics of scientific navigation -- navigation using trigonometry and other mathematical principles -- that is either a very fine student notebook, the draft of a proposed textbook, or perhaps both. The writing is done in a meticulous calligraphic cursive hand, and there are many illustrations, the most outstanding being the beautiful watercolor of a ship on the title page. Also special is a fold-out manuscript map of the Atlantic Coast running from Britain to Central Africa. The prose is throughout very lucid -- one can say that the clarity and elegance of the penmanship perfectly reflects how the content is expressed. Everything is explained in a non-fussy, straightforward manner that invites quicker, non-arduous comprehension, and generally the points being made are illustrated with ample examples. Indeed, it is the felicitousness of the writing that inclines us to suspect that this was intended to become a book. The last section of the book is a "Journal of a Voyage from London to Madeira and Teneriffe, In the Endeavour of London." We do not know if this is a journal of an actual trip or merely a hypothetical trip meant to illustrate all the principles and methods imparted in the text as they would be employed in real life. It probably doesn't matter. Either way, the notebook is an excellent window on the most advanced approach to navigation at the time it was written. 4to. 26 by 21 cm. Unpaginated, about 264 pp.