NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Old American Practical Navigators
From: Peter Smith
Date: 1998 Jun 01, 8:43 AM
From: Peter Smith
Date: 1998 Jun 01, 8:43 AM
On Fri 29 May 1998 17:42:49 -0700, Gordon Talgeasked: > > I just picked up a 1928 edition of the American Practical Navigator > by Bowditch for $10.00 at a used book store. > > Interesting enough, they had a 1939 edition for $35.00 and beat up at > that. I have seen several 1939 and 1943 editions for $10 to $12.=20 > Couldn't understand why the 39 one would be $35.00 and the 28 one > would be $10.00. > > Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had come across even older editons > maybe dating back to the 1800s. Odd that the 1928 was cheaper: I see a lot of 1930's editions, going for around $20 in good condition. Lots of that vintage were printed for WW-II reservists, and as that generation dies off or moves to Florida, they're easy to find. Over the years I've managed to pick up an old Blunt edition and a representative group of government editions. The government editions were revised at about 20-year intervals, and seeing the changes gives a good chronology of how various methods came into and out of common use -- i.e., lunars, separate latitude and longitude sights vs. sights for an LOP, Sumner Lines vs. altitude-intercept methods, etc. If you're interested in tracking down some other copies, here's a very brief outline of the various editions: 1802-1863 31 editions published by the Blunt family (1802-1807 as Edmund M Blunt, Newburyport, Massachusetts; 1811- 1863 as E&GW Blunt, NY). A first edition in Fine condition can run $3200-4000, other Blunt editions are usually $100-250, with the Civil War editions running a little higher. For more information, the indispensable reference is John Campell's _History and Bibliography of the New American Practical Navigator and The American Coast Pilot_ (Salem, Mass.: Peabody Museum, 1964) 1868-1995 The government bought the copyright from the Blunts and took over publication as Pub. 9 of the Hydrographic Office (or "HO 9" for short). Printings are every few years, almost every year in wartime, with major revisions every 20 years or so. In the 1970's, the tables and appendices became so large that they were spun off into a second volume. There were two such editions: 1975(V2) + 1977(V1), and 1981(v2) + 1984(v1). These two-volume editions are wonderful references, but quality control of the binding process was not good. Government editions are not expensive: 20th-century printings usually run around $20, 19th-century a little higher if in good shape. -- Peter Smith -- psmith@wellspring.us.dg.com Data General Corp., Westboro, Massachusetts (for whom I do not speak) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= =-= TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send this message to majordomo@ronin.com: =-= =-= navigation =-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=