Chart of the Harbours of Salem, Marblehead, Beverly and Manchester from a Survey taken in the years 1804, 5, & 6

by Nathaniel Bowditch

$20,000 · Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books

First edition

An American cartographic rarity: the true first edition of Bowditch's famed chart of the coasts of Salem, Beverly, Marblehead and Manchester. Bowditch's separately-issued chart, the first accurate chart of those waters, was among the earliest nautical charts based on first-hand surveys by an American to be published in the United States. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of a local shipmaster, at a young age Nathaniel Bowditch was apprenticed to a local ship chandlery.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.