ALS with Nautical Content - New Navigational Tables by Beaufort and Raper by BARROW, JOHN - 1831

London, 1831. One Original Signed Letter from Sir John Barrow to Davies Gilbert. 8vo. 1 page on a single-leaf, dated 22 August, (content reveals the year is 1831). Leaf measures approximately 18cm x 11,5cm (7 inches x 4.5 inches). Very good condition. In 1831, the Royal Astronomical Society deemed it imperative for advancement in navigation, to form "New Requisite Tables" which would be introduced in the impending publication of the New Nautical Almanack. At the behest of Captain Beaufort, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, RN Lieutenant Henry Raper, a revered authority on navigation, was in charge of constructing the charts. Here Sir John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty, is evidently responding to an enquiry by Davies Gilbert, mathematician and President of the Royal Society. Barrow assures Gilbert that he has directed the question to Captain Francis Beaufort, who is an integral member of the committee charged with making the nautical charts. Signed in the original by Sir John Barrow, the letter states: "The subject of the New Requisite Tables is in the hands of the Astronomical Society and has been for some time, but as yet they have not made any report. I have shown your note to Capt Beaufort who is one of the Committee." A report published in the Nautical Magazine, March 1831, corroborates the significance of this work, and the involvement of such leading authorities in navigation. . Manuscript.