BOUGUER (Pierre). New treatise on navigation and piloting. Paris, H.-L. Guérin & L.-F. Delatour, 1753. In-4, marbled calf, double cold fillet, ornate spine, blue painted endpapers, marbled edges (period binding). First edition of this famous nautical piloting manual. The illustration consists of 13 folded plates and maps. A mathematician and physicist, Pierre Bouguer (1698-1758) was one of the most remarkable geometers in the application of the sciences of calculation. He succeeded his father Jean Bouguer, himself the author of a Traité complet de la navigation in 1698, as professor of piloting at the École royale d'hydrographie in Le Croisic. His work on the action of wind in sails considerably increased the efficiency of sailing ships. Along with Duhamel du Monceau, Chapman, Bernouilli and Euler, he was part of the scientific movement that revolutionised maritime techniques in the mid-eighteenth century. A very fine copy. Stamp of the Collège Saint-Clément de Metz on the false title. Covers and corners carefully restored. Polak, n°1053.