[East Indies Sailing Directory] A New Directory for the East-Indies

[East Indies Sailing Directory] A New Directory for the East-Indies containing I. The First Discoveries made in the East Indies by European Voyages and Travellers. II. The Origin, Construction and Application of Nautical and Hydrographical Charts. III. The Natural Causes ... of the Constant and Variable Winds ... throughout the East-India Oceans and Seas. IV. A Description of the Sea Coasts, Islands Rocks ... etc. in the Oriental Navigation. V. Directions for navigating in the East-India Seas ... VI. Directions for sailing to and from the East-Indies ... The whole being a Work originally begun upon the Plan of the Oriental Neptune, augmented and improved by Mr. William Herbert, Mr. Willm Nichelson, and Others; and now methodised, corrected, and further enlarged, by Samuel Dunn. London: Henry Gregory, 1780. Fifth edition, 4to (28.7 x 20.8cm), contemporary sailcloth stitched over boards, xxxvi 544 pp., engraved plate facing p. 341, engraved headpiece, without frontispiece noted in other copies, with detailed contemporary annotations to pp. 377, 378, 379, 381, 394, 397, 409, 520, 521 (in chapters 'Directions for Sailing toward the China Seas' and 'Directions for Returning from the China Seas'), in at least two different hands (signed J. Rossiter and S. Cooper), old ink-stamp ('S. E. Howell') to head of title-page, ownership inscription to front free endpaper and initial blank, toning, spotting to title-page, plate and adjacent text-leaves, scattered light spotting and soiling elsewhere [ESTC T146275] Qty: (1) Note: An engrossing artefact of late 18th-century trade and maritime exploration in the East Indies, containing annotations demonstrating first-hand knowledge of the waters around Java and Sumatra, and retaining an early makeshift covering of crudely stitched sailcloth, in a good state of preservation. Le Neptune orientale, the basis of the work, was first published in 1745; Herbert's New Directory for the East Indies first appeared in 1758. This fifth edition is considerably expanded from all preceding iterations, which all had 144 pages, suggesting that only limited changes if any had been made previously. All editions are rare in libraries and in commerce.