Bowditch's American Practical Navigator

was published in 1802 and has remained the textbook of American seamen. It has played the important part of guiding the navigator in every American adventure on the sea. One edition followed another bringing up-to-date methods to the mariner. In 1866 the copyright and plates were bought by the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy. It is not only a notable book but is considered one of America's nautical institutions.

Source: Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940