A Proposal for discovering our longitude. Proposition pour la decouverte de notre longitude. London, printed for the author; and sold by P.Vaillant 1742. 4°. Mit 1 gest. Falttaf. 2 Bl., 17, 64 S. (S. 62-63 w.), S. 3-115, 2 Bl. Ldr. d. Zt. mit Goldpräg., Rckn.- u. Stehkantverg. u. Goldschnitt. (Berieben u. bestoßen, einige Schab- u. Kratzspuren, Gelenke tls. geplatzt).

BLC 310, 350. Houzeau-Lancaster 10433. NUC S 839188. Erste Ausgabe. - First edition. A very rare copy of the strong paper issue with the wide margins. - A very eccentric scheme. In 1713, by act of Parliament, a prize of £20,000 was offered for "a practicable method of calculating longitude at sea." Jane Squire first entered the competition - the only woman to do so - in about 1731, when she issued an 11-page sketch of her proposal (now extremely rare). As fully elaborated, her method involved the division of the sky into more than a million numbered spaces, which she called "cloves." Navigators would have to memorize these cloves, recognize the clove directly above their current position, and then use an "astral" watch (set to the movement of the stars), to calculate their longitude from Squire's prime meridian, which ran through the manger in Bethlehem. The first portion of this volume contains Jane Squire's correspondence with various authorities, challenging their scepticism and arguing for the appropriateness of mathematics as a study for women. In the end the prize was won by the horologist John Harrison, but the final payment of the reward was not paid until 1773. - Papierbedingt etw. gebräunt, tls. stockfleckig. Widmungsbl. u. S. 5-6 mit kl. Randeinriss. Exlibris: "Electorali Bibliotheca Seren. utruisqu. Bavariae ducum".

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