MARTENSEN, Hans Andersen.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Allgemeines Signal-Buch, First edition of this handy simplified signal book for merchant ships. Martensen developed his scheme from that of Nathaniel Squire, whose English Universal Signal Book of 1817 was one of the earliest essays at such a telegraphic system. Rare, no copies noted institutionally, and just a single copy at auction. Martensen (1781-1822) was a Danish schoolmaster and ship-owner who lived in Flensburg in Schleswig, who published the book in four languages, his preferred Danish, German the predominant tongue in his home town, but also French - as Livre Universal de signaux - and English The Universal Signal Book. All editions are rare, WorldCat locates a copy in Danish in the Royal Danish Library and another in NYPL, but gives no locations for any of the other editions, citing only the description in Bibliotheca Danica, similarly no listings bar the Danish on KVK. Martensen took Nathaniel Squire's Universal Signal Book as an initial impetus to create this code, it appeared in Danish in 1817, but in his introduction draws attention to the manifold "shortcomings and imperfections" in the Englishman's effort. Martensen also wrote several other books on seamanship, navigation, trading, tariffs, currency and mathematics, almost certainly turning to the pen after his livelihood was taken from him in the war: "Sometime between December 1808 and June 1812, when after Denmark had sided with Napoleon in the war with the British, his ship was captured and he was impriso

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