The American Practical Navigator

The American Practical Navigator , written by Nathaniel Bowditch, is an encyclopedia of navigation, a valuable handbook on oceanography and meteorology, and contains useful tables and a maritime glossary. In 1866 the copyright and plates were bought by the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy, and as a U.S. Government publication, it is now available for fThe most popular navigational text of the late 18th century was The New Practical Navigator by John Hamilton Moore. Edmund M. Blunt, a Newburyport, Massachusetts publisher, decided to issue a revised copy of this work for American navigators and convinced Nathaniel Bowditch, a locally famous mariner and mathematician, to revise and update it with the help of several others. Blunt's The New Practical Navigator was published in 1799, followed by a second edition in 1800.
By 1802, when Blunt was ready to publish a third edition, Nathaniel Bowditch and others had corrected so many errors in Hamilton's work that Blunt decided to publish it as the first edition of a new work, The New American Practical Navigator. The current edition of the American Practical Navigator traces its pedigree to that 1802 edition. Edmund M. Blunt continued to published the book until 1833; upon his retirement, his sons, Edmund and George, assumed publication. The elder Blunt died in 1862; his son Edmund followed in 1866. The next year, 1867, George Blunt sold the copyright to the government for $25,000. The government has published Bowditch ever since. George Blunt died in 1878.
Nathaniel Bowditch continued to correct and revise ree online. It is not only a notable book but is considered one of America's nautical institution.