![[MANUSCRIPTS-GARTLAND, JAMES] Four bound late 18th century nautically oriented mathematical manuscripts.](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/911/1557911.jpg?itok=I9PsaOj1)
Lot Details
Lot 180
[MANUSCRIPTS-GARTLAND, JAMES] Four bound late 18th century nautically oriented mathematical manuscripts.
Four folio manuscripts on watermarked laid-paper, circa 1786, each bound in modern library cloth. 16 x 10 inches (40 x 25 cm); in total approximately 196 manuscript pages with text and color illustration, per the following breakdown: Journal of a Voyage by God's Permission in the Brig Neptune John Triton Commander from Cape Clear in Ireland to the Barbadoes in the West Indies/Mensuration, 37 pp.; Mensuration, 47 pp.; Marine Architecture or the Construction of Ships, 34 pp.; Spherical Geometry or Stereographick Problems, 78 pp., this with a laid-in manuscript Lunar Compass with the signature of James Gartland dated 1786. Occasional modern paper replacement to edges affecting some text, the last leaf in Marine Architecture with loss affecting image, the laid-in sheet silked, occasional stains and spotting.
An interesting and well-illustrated group of scientific and mathematical manuscripts, probably prepared by someone studying to be a midshipman. Various aspects of nautical education are covered, including trigonometry, astronomy, spherical measuring, ship building and other professions such as masonry, brick laying, etc. The Journal of a Voyage from Ireland to Barbados on the Brig Neptune is almost certainly a fictitious account (the Neptune/Triton combination is perhaps a trifle too pat); it was likely prepared to practice logkeeping, an essential shipboard task for a would-be officer. The manuscripts make frequent use of illustrative charts in yellow and purple wash, including a half-page lunar compass. Worthy of future research.
C The Collection of Jay I. Kislak sold to benefit the Kislak Family Foundation
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