THE 'BIBLE' OF EASTERN NAVIGATION

HORSBURGH, JAMES.

The India directory, or, directions for sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Japan, Australia, and the interjacent ports of Africa and South America. Eighth Edition. 2 vols.

London, Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1864. Large4to. 2 volumes, both uniformly bound in contemporary half calf bindings with four raised bands and gilt lettering to spines. Wear to extremities, especially spine. Library stamp in gilt lettering to front boards of both volumes. Small paperlabel pasted on to pasted down front end-papers. A small stamp to front free end papers and two small stamp to title-pages in both volumes, otherwise internally fine and clean. [Blank], (2), (I)-XII, XXV, (3), 848, [Blank] pp. [Blank], (I)-VII, (5), 881, [blank] pp.

Uncommon eighth and final edition, revised and heavily expanded, of Horsburg's massive standard manual for the eastern navigation. The work was meant to be a practical tool used at sea so copies in this, essential unused, condition are rarely found.

The preface notes that "the Treatise on Magnetism and the Deviation of the Compass has been revised by Mr. Frederick Evans [...]. There has been added, in the First Volume, much information derived from the surveys on the S.E. coast of Africa, by Mr. Francis Skead, Master R.N.; the Gulf of Persia, by Commander Constable and Lieutenant Stiffe; and the western coast of India, Malabar coast, and the Mutlah river by Lieutenants Cogan, Rennie, Selby, Taylor, and Ward, officers of the Indian Navy. [...]
In the Second Volume will be found the result of a new survey of the Canton river by the late Captain W. Thornton Bate, R. N., and also a full description of the new channel through Banka Strait, to which the name of its discoverer, Mr. William Stanton, Master R.N. [...]Likewise the details of the recent survey of the Tambelan islands and Esprit group, with many corrections of islands and shoals between Singapore and Borneo, by Mr. J. W. Reed. [...] lastly is added the results of the important and valuable survey of the West and South coasts of Japan between 1859 to 1862 by Commanders Ward and Bullock, R. N." (From the preface to this Eighth edition).

The book appeared in a total of eight editions between 1809 and 1864 before being superseded by Findlay's A directory for the navigation of the Indian Ocean (1869).

Order-nr.: 57450