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Details
BOWDITCH, Nathaniel. Directions for Sailing into the Harbours of Salem, Marblehead, Beverly and Manchester. Newburyport, Mass.: Edmund M. Blunt, 1806.
8o (219 x 133 mm). Original printed wrappers (spine perished). Provenance: illegible recipient, presentation copy from the author.
FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE EARLY AMERICAN PILOT. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY BOWDITCH on the upper wrapper (faded): "... From the author," and with a one-line correction by Bowditch in the lower margin of p.20. This text was published to accompany Bowditch's equally rare chart of Salem harbor. In 1794, Massachusetts had commissioned a survey of the coast, but left the logistics up to the individual towns, and the results were uneven from town to town. Capt. Gibaut started a survey of Salem but it was never completed. Bowditch tried to complete Gibaut's survey but found it inaccurate and started over again with a new theodolite by Adams. Extensive soundings of ledges and shoals were made and the new chart was the result. RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, no copies have appeared at auction in at least 30 years. Burstyn p.115; Sabin 6996; Shaw & Shoemaker 10022.
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FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE EARLY AMERICAN PILOT. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY BOWDITCH on the upper wrapper (faded): "... From the author," and with a one-line correction by Bowditch in the lower margin of p.20. This text was published to accompany Bowditch's equally rare chart of Salem harbor. In 1794, Massachusetts had commissioned a survey of the coast, but left the logistics up to the individual towns, and the results were uneven from town to town. Capt. Gibaut started a survey of Salem but it was never completed. Bowditch tried to complete Gibaut's survey but found it inaccurate and started over again with a new theodolite by Adams. Extensive soundings of ledges and shoals were made and the new chart was the result. RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, no copies have appeared at auction in at least 30 years. Burstyn p.115; Sabin 6996; Shaw & Shoemaker 10022.