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Several listmembers, me included, have bemoaned the lack of any available
text which covers celestial navigation before the days of the Sumner Line
of Position, with longitudes by lunar distance or chronometer. Cotter's
"History of Nautical Astronomy" is hard to obtain and has serious
shortcomings.

And I've mentioned recently a useful paper by Nicholas A Doe, "Captain
Vancouver's Longitudes 1792", in which he analyses errors in the Nautical
Almanac over a short period in 1792 to explain defects in his positions in
the Vancouver area. This was published in the (British RIN) Journal of
Navigation, 48/2, Sept 95.

I had asked for help in tracking Doe down, to make contact with him, and
now I am happy to say that I have managed to contact Nick Doe.

To get to the point, he says, at his Reference 3-

"Many books and papers have been published on the history of navigation
techniques. Recommended are-
Pretze, C.L., Jr., (ed) (1948). "The Evolution of Celestial Navigation".
Ideal Series 26, Hearst Magazines, N.Y."

Doe goes on to mention Cotter and Eva Taylor's "The Haven-Finding  Art";
but as I remember Taylor stops short before the days of finding longitude.

But "The Evolution of Celestial Navigation" seems an interesting and
relevant title. Unfortunately, I can't find a reference to it here in UK,
but a friend in the US has looked up the reference in the Library of
Congress and found-

===========
Database Name:Library of Congress
You searched: Title Index = evolution of celestial navigation
Search Results: Displaying 1 of 1 entries

The evolution of celestial navigation.

Author:  Petze, Charles Louis, 1902-
Title:   The evolution of celestial navigation.
Published:   New York, Motor Boating [1948]
Description:     104 p. illus., maps, charts. 30 cm.

Location:    Shelved at Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies
Reading Rms
Call Number:     VM341 .M9 vol. 26
=============

Note the different spelling of the Author's name here, as Petze, not Pretze.

I've never heard of this work, or its author, but I wonder if any
listmember has ever come across it or may have access to such back numbers.
Otherwise, can I encourage any US member with access to a good reference
library, to borrow a copy and comment back to the list on what he has
found, and whether microfilmed or microfiche copies are available..

From its title alone, this article seems to be too relevant to allow it to
remain in the dark.

George.

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contact George Huxtable by email at george@huxtable.u-net.com, by phone at
01865 820222 (from outside UK, +44 1865 820222), or by mail at 1 Sandy
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