John Seller (c. 1632-1697) was a Wapping-based maker of navigational instruments, chart and map seller, and reknowned to have taken away the Dutch dominance of producing navigational maps and charts. ‘He wrote several textbooks, including the popular Practical Navigation [the present work], outlining the mathematical basis of navigation through worked examples. Within the limits of contemporary practice his description of the various instruments and their use at sea is of exemplary clarity’ (Laurence Worms in ODNB).

The work first published by Seller in 1669, “established a creditable reputation [him] in the maritime community. The book was frequently reprinted over the years and, indeed, some thirty years later it was described as ‘the most useful book for Seamen yet extant'” (Davis & Daniel). In fact the work proved so popular that Seller’s successors Richard Mount and Thomas Page were publishing editions of the work until the mid eighteenth century.

The present work bears numerous manuscript annotations to the upper and lower pastedown by the first owner Thomas Midleton (dated 1682) and a later owner John Wilson.

Due to there use at sea all such works are rare, and this is no exception. We are only able to trace four institutional examples of the present edition: the Smithsonian; New York Public Library; US Coast Guard Academy; and the National Library of New Zealand.