PRINCIPAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE SURVEY OF THE COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, SINCE 1816
1834 · New York
by Hassler, F. R.
New York: William Van Norden, 1834. 181,iv pp. plus folding map. Dbd. Foxing throughout, dampstain throughout top right corner, not affecting text. Good. A collection of correspondences and reports between numerous bureaucrats and Hassler during the time of his involvement in the U.S. Coast Survey. Hassler was a leading geodesist and scientist whose work established the Survey on a sound scientific basis. The Coast Survey legitimized government sponsored scientific endeavors in the United States, and led to other major projects such as the Wilkes Expedition and the Railroad Surveys. He directed the project from 1816 to 1818 and then again, when the position became open to civilians, from 1832 until his death in 1843. The map is "A Diagram of the Triangulation for the Survey of the Coast of the United States made in 1817 and 1833," for Long Island Sound (Inventory #: WRCAM41297)