Autograph Letter Signed

(1806-73) Reknown hydrographer called the "Pathfinder of the Seas." At the age of 19 he joined the navy as a midshipman and published his first book, "Maury's Navigation," in 1843. Among his projects were the establishment of a river wide system of information on the Mississippi's condition and the enlargement of the inland canal system. In 1842, he was named head of the hydrographical office of the navy. He brought out his paper on the Gulf Stream, ocean currents and great circle sailing in 1844 and books entitled "A Scheme for Rebuilding Southern Commerce," "Wind and Current Charts," and "Sailing Directions." He standardized the logs kept by ship captains and in 1856 published "The Physical Geography of the Sea." Honored all over the world as the founder of a new science, he was the first man to describe the Gulf Stream and to mark routes across the Atlantic. He also instituted the system of deep-sea sounding and suggested laying of transoceanic cables. When his native state of Virginia seceded from the Union, he resigned his commission, and joined the Confederacy as commander on June 10, 1861. In Oct. 1862, he established the naval submarine battery service and at the time of the Confederate surrender had invented a method of arranging and testing torpedo mines which he was about to put in use. After the Civil War he went to Mexico and served under Maximilian, going to Europe when that government collapsed. Declining a number of posts in Europe, he became physics professor at V.M.I. and wrote a great many other books on the sea and geography.

Autograph Letter Signed: 7 3/4 x 6 1/4, in ink.

New York, 15 Jan. 1840

Sir,

The above check for $24. is the amount of yr. bill against me for one dress black coat. The clothes sent to Baltimore had not arrived there on the 9th ins[t].

I am Sir respectfully & c,
M.F. Maury

Mr. Jno. Earle, Jr.
Boston,
Mass.

Light wear and some light stains.