Title Page of William Bourne's Regiment for the Sea

The first English treatise on navigation was a translation of Spaniard Martín Cortés de Albacar's Arte de Navegar, in 1561. William Bourne revised and added to it with his 1574 Regiment for the Sea, writing explicitly for the seafarers who were his neighbors in Gravesend. The book went through at least 11 English and three Dutch editions.

Bourne's book provides information on navigation and navigational tools at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This image is from a copy at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Do a title search at the web site shown below to search for Regiment for the Sea.