Lot 209

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Description:

Rare book: American Coast Pilot, published 1804 Furlong, Captain Lawrence. THE AMERICAN COAST PILOT: CONTAINING THE COURSES AND DISTANCES BETWEEN THE PRINCIPAL HARBOURS, CAPES AND HEADLANDS, FROM THE PASSAMAQUODDY, THROUGH THE GULPH OF FLORIDA; WITH DIRECTIONS FOR SAILING INTO THE SAME, DESCRIBING THE SOUNDINGS, BEARINGS OF THE LIGHT-HOUSES AND BEACONS FROM THE ROCKS, SHOALS, LEDGES, &c. TOGETHER WITH THE COURSES AND DISTANCES FROM CAPE COD AND CAPE ANN TO GEORGES' BANK, THROUGH THE SOUTH AND EAST CHANNELS, AND THE SETTING OF THE CURRENTS, WITH THE LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES OF THE PRINCIPAL HARBOURS ON THE COAST TOGETHER WITH A TIDE TABLE. Printed by Edmund M. Blunt, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1804. 4th edition volume, 1st edition illustrated with maps and plans.

Provenance: Edmund March Blunt (1770-1862) published the first edition of Captain Lawrence Furlong's AMERICAN COAST PILOT in 1796, beginning his long career as a nautical book and chart maker. Blunt was actually the primary author of this work, using Furlong's name for credibility. The earliest editions did not contain any charts, but instead included verbal descriptions of sailing directions, tide tables, latitudes and longitudes, and navigational landmarks, as well as other information of use to sailors. In the later editions Blunt began to include small charts of harbors and sections of the coast. Over the years, Blunt continued to issue editions of this sea pilot and also produced separate charts based, at first, on the charts of others but later on his own charts and those of his sons, George William and Edmund. About 1827, Blunt retired and the firm was carried on by his sons, who continued to issue some of the best American sea charts of the period. Of note was the alliance between the Blunts and the U.S. Coast Survey, which allowed the Blunts access to the latest U.S. surveys. In all, the Blunt firm issued 21 editions of the AMERICAN COAST PILOT, which became an essential work for native and foreign sailors along the American coast. Finally, in 1867, the rights were sold to the Coast Survey for $20,000, ending the Blunt's long run as preeminent supplier of information on the American coast.

    Condition:
  • Partially rebound in dark brown leather, with newer leather labels and end pages. Bumping and rubbing to corners, hinges and text block sound, with the exception of pages 175-193, missing, and page 183, partial but present and unattached. Pages stained, with rough edges, but remarkably intact for a volume apparently in use for many years. Maps present are: Newburyport Harbour, Isle of Sable, Newport Harbour, New York Harbour, Charleston Harbour. Maps missing are: Portland Harbour, Portsmounth Harbour, Annis Squam Harbour, Boston Harbour, Bay and River Delaware, Bay of Chesapeake.


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March 7, 2009 10:00 AM EST
Columbia, SC, US

Charlton Hall

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