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STEVIN, Simon (1548-1620). The Haven-finding Art, or, the Way to find any Haven or Place at sea, by Latitude and Variation. Translated from Dutch into English by Edward Wright (1561-1615). London: G. Bishop, R. Newbery and R. Barker, 1599.
Small 4o (170 x 130 mm). Woodcut diagrams (one full-page) (cropped, a few blank corners mended, including title-page). Modern sprinkled calf gilt, edges gilt (some splitting to upper joint). Provenance: Boies Penrose (bookplate; his sale part II, Sotheby's London, 9 November 1971, lot 237).
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. The Haven-finding Art "(by the combination of compass variation and latitude) had been prescribed for use in all ships under his jurisdiction by Prince Maurice of Nassau, Lord High Admiral of the United Provinces, and Richard Hakluyt had persuaded Wright to translate it" (Taylor). Edward Wright dedicated the work to Charles Earl of Nottingham, the Lord High Admiral, because of his "singular affection for the advancement of knowledge and skill among seaman" (quoted from the dedication). Wright "explained that he had brought the book out in the hope that it would assist masters engaged on long voyages to find their position by means only of their knowledge of their latitude and variation... It was hoped that instead of guessing, as up till now those not in possession of the information had had to do, and often wrongly... English navigators knowing their variation when in the latitude of St. Helena would be able to say, like the Portuguese 'I am east, or I am west, of St. Helena because my variation is less, or is more, than the variation at St. Helena.' They could, of course, find the variation of St. Helena from The Haven-finding Art" (Waters). Stevin served as quartermaster-general of the Dutch army and was often consulted by the government of the Netherlands on matters of defense and navigation. The Haven-finding Art was published in Dutch, French, Latin and English, all in the same year. EXTREMELY RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, no other copy in any language has sold in over 70 years. STC 23265; Taylor Mathematical Practitioners 99/100b; Waters The Art of Navigation pp. 229-230.
Small 4
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. The Haven-finding Art "(by the combination of compass variation and latitude) had been prescribed for use in all ships under his jurisdiction by Prince Maurice of Nassau, Lord High Admiral of the United Provinces, and Richard Hakluyt had persuaded Wright to translate it" (Taylor). Edward Wright dedicated the work to Charles Earl of Nottingham, the Lord High Admiral, because of his "singular affection for the advancement of knowledge and skill among seaman" (quoted from the dedication). Wright "explained that he had brought the book out in the hope that it would assist masters engaged on long voyages to find their position by means only of their knowledge of their latitude and variation... It was hoped that instead of guessing, as up till now those not in possession of the information had had to do, and often wrongly... English navigators knowing their variation when in the latitude of St. Helena would be able to say, like the Portuguese 'I am east, or I am west, of St. Helena because my variation is less, or is more, than the variation at St. Helena.' They could, of course, find the variation of St. Helena from The Haven-finding Art" (Waters). Stevin served as quartermaster-general of the Dutch army and was often consulted by the government of the Netherlands on matters of defense and navigation. The Haven-finding Art was published in Dutch, French, Latin and English, all in the same year. EXTREMELY RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, no other copy in any language has sold in over 70 years. STC 23265; Taylor Mathematical Practitioners 99/100b; Waters The Art of Navigation pp. 229-230.