Series 33. Navigation Notebook (circa 1721)

The collection consists of a single hand-lettered volume of mathematical algorithms for navigation and astronomical tables, including a chart with a rotating paper dial known as a volvelle for calculating "full sea" and one for calculating dominical letters (an aid to determining Sundays in any particular year, and especially the date of Easter) from 1705 to 1735. The latter is colored with a paint that has patinated to green. No author or date of production is evident for the volume as a whole. One entry dated 1721 mentions orientation using Philadelphia landmarks including Joseph Redman's wharf, Society Hill, and the Delaware River. The volume is written from both sets of covers, each bearing the bookplate of John Sanford Barnes. At one end is also a bookplate that reads "C.C. Elwes" and bears a heraldic emblem of five arrows encircled by a snake. On that end leaf are also written the names "Sam'l Howell" and "John Thom."