The American Coast Pilot: Containing the Courses and Distances Between the Principal Harbours, Capes, and Headlands, on the Coast of North and South America; ... and Beacons from the Rocks, Shoals,...
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Edmund March Blunt was an American hydrographer and writer. He was publisher of the Newburyport Herald of Massachusetts.
Background
Edmund Blunt was born on June 20, 1770, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States, the son of William and Elizabeth (March) Blunt. His boyhood and early manhood were spent in his native city and in Newburyport, Massachussets, where he had many contacts with the life of the sea as both places enjoyed at that time a rather prosperous commerce.
Career
It was in Newburyport that Edmund Blunt embarked on a business career, beginning in 1793, with Howard S. Robinson, the publication of the Impartial Herald. For three years he carried on newspaper publishing along with his bookstore which stood just a few doors below the Wolfe Tavern. This feature of his business had a steady growth until in 1802 there were 3, 000 volumes available for circulation. The step which without doubt was the most important in his career was his decision in 1796 to publish the American Coast Pilot, compiled by Capt. L. Furlong. This book, which contained "directions for principal harbors, capes, and headlands of the coast of North and part of South America, " filled a long felt need and found a ready sale not only in America but also in Europe where it was translated into the more important languages. The first edition was soon exhausted and others were called for. These Blunt personally sponsored and edited.
An incident which arose in connection with the publication of the charts gives considerable insight into Blunt's character. In 1805 James Akin was engaged in engraving maps and charts for Blunt when the latter became infuriated in a dispute over some details of the work and seizing a heavy iron skillet, threw it at Akin. In revenge Akin published a caricature called "Infuriated Despondency" representing Blunt in the act of throwing the skillet. This engraving he sent to England with instructions to have it reproduced on crockery. A large number of household utensils bearing the caricature were imported and sold in Newburyport but most of them were purchased by Blunt's friends and broken up. In July 1805 Blunt sued Akin for libel. A decision was rendered in favor of the defendant after a long and bitter contest. Shortly after the quarrel Blunt moved to New York City, where he continued to carry on his nautical publications, at first alone, and later with his sons E. and G. W. Blunt. A notable work of this period was his Stranger's Guide to the City of New York which appeared in 1817. His death, at Sing Sing (now Ossining), New York, was mourned by large numbers of his intimates among the old school of American shipmasters.