1739 John Cowley 'Description of the Windward Passage' (Bahamas, Florida, Cuba)

An extremely rare first edition of John Cowley's rutter (nautical guidebook) of the West Indies, particularly the important Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola. This document was intended for navigators and tradesmen with an interested in the English West India Trade. It describes the route from the Gulf of Florida through the Windward Passage into the Caribbean, where ships would pick up the trade winds that carried them across the Atlantic to Europe. The volume contains a basic introduction to navigational terms, then a series of instructions and descriptions describing the route, current, nautical conditions, and winds. A second section details Proposals for better securing of the British Trade and Navigation to and From the West Indies. Section three is an Index of the island capes Shoals, Bays, Rocks and other Particulars of the region. This section accompanies an interesting map with manuscript annotation entitled A Chart of the Bahama Islands with a description of the Gulf of Florida…. Unfortunately only the left hand portion of this map is present.

This volume was printed by John Applebee of Bolt-Court, Fleet Street, London.

Typically this is a 16,000 USD volume, but because of the damage to the map, we are offering it at a much reduced price. Since the value here is not really the map anyway, this represents an exceptionally good deal for anyone interested in early Navigation around Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba.