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London: Felix Kyngston, 1609, Small quarto (185 x 135 mm). Title-page and text printed within double-rule border. Some almost invisible restoration to front free endpaper and a few leaves, Contemporary limp vellum; blue half morocco folding case. 
The First and only edition of this very rare and important work concerned with the search for the North-West Passage. Linton was chaplain to Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, who served as High Admiral from 1585-1618. He includes summaries of various works on the art of navigation, including discussions of Drake, Gilbert, and Sir Thomas Candish (i.e. Cavendish). He also discusses Edward Wright s critique of Plancius world map, which failed to document Drake s discovery and English claim on New Albion (i.e. present-day California). 'Drake, Gilbert, and the other navigators who came to America are mentioned on p. 10, as follows: Yea and by Nauigation, the huge conuexitie of the whole world, within little more then these 30. yeares last past, hath been by our English nation twice sailed about. Once by the worthie Sir Francis Drake Knight, and the second time, by the worthie Thomas Candish Esquire, both passing thorow the Straits of Magellan, into the South sea, and so coasting from thence the Westerne shore of the New world, vnto California, passed from thence vnto the Moluccan Ilands, and from thence by Iaua, and by the Cape, De bona Esperanza, and returned againe aliue into this Realme of England, with riches and renowne. A voyage neuer yet before this day performed (for any thing I know to the contrarie) by any other, of what nation soeuer, but only by Magellan the Portugale… (Church) Linton wrote a curious little treatise on the importance of navigation to England, of ways and means of finding a passage to Cathay , and of navigational problems. … he pointed out that in navigation position-finding was still imperfect (D.W. Waters, The Art of Navigation in England in Elizabethan and Early Stuart Times, p.274). Church 343; JCB II, 63; Sabin 41385 ( having not seen a copy).
Only one other copy has appeared at auction in the last 35 years (Christie s London, 30 May 1984, lot 159
Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillips. Seller Inventory # 6185
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