~ citations to follow at later date ~ click the image to see a larger view ~
A mariner’s handbook of sailing directions, from the earliest days of sail when knowledge of unknown coasts might mean life or death. And an item of private intelligence of immense commercial and naval value. Rutter’s often included visual sketches of approaches to a coastline; a practice which continues to this day; despite modern use of electronic navigation aids. You just never know when computers and telecommunications links will fail.
This rare rutter was the personal possession of the captain of a French trading vessel traveling along the Côte d’Acadie between Canseaux (Canso, NS) and what is now Maine, USA.
