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HORSBURGH, JAMES

The India Directory, or, Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the Interjacent Ports of Africa and South America: Compiled Chiefly from Original Journals of the Honourable Company's Ships….,

The India Directory, or, Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the Interjacent Ports of Africa and South America
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Scarce fifth edition of this important and justly famous publication

Availability: Sold

Travel & Exploration

2 vol., vol 1. is Fifth Edition vol 2. Fourth edition, ownership inscription in pencil to title head, publishers brown cloth, rebacked, folio, London, William H. Allen and Co., 1841

Scarce fifth edition of this important and justly famous publication, first published in 1809-11, which was to become the standard manual for the eastern navigation. This enlarged edition includes additional information on the coast of Arabia, the Persian Gulf, the River Indus, and the Maldiva [sic] Islands, has been added. Captain Wickham, of the HMS Beagle provided material on the West and North-West coasts of Australia. There are also several references to locations in modern day Qatar, including El Biddah (Doha), and in the United Arab Emirates, including Boothabeen (Abu Dhabi) and Debay (Dubai).

Born in Scotland, James Horsburgh (1762-1836) settled in India, working first in the Calcutta shipyards and later on locally based merchant ships. He accumulated as much accurate navigational information on the region as he could after he was involved in a shipwreck returning to India from Batavia. He began making observations of bearings and compiling charts of and sailing directions for the eastern seas. Capitalising on his experience, he privately published a series of charts of the China Sea, Malacca Strait and Bombay Harbour. Horsburgh’s efforts between 1806 and 1811 were devoted to compiling comprehensive sailing directions for the East Indies navigation, the first edition of which appeared as Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies. Horsburgh subsequently became a hydrographer to the East India Company.

The size of Horsburgh’s book and its status as an essential “bible” for mariners on the often treacherous run out to the South Seas means that those copies that do survive are more often than not found in rather compromised condition.

Intended for use at sea, all editions of the Directory are uncommon.

Provenance: Edward Brown

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