Edmund March Blunt


Edmund March Blunt was an American navigator, author, and publisher of nautical magazines. He established a nautical book and chart publishing firm that became the largest publishing firm in early 19th century. In 1796, he published American Coastal Pilot, which described every port of the United States. Blunt created a map in 1796 of what is now the Federated States of Micronesia.

Personal life

Blunt was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and lived in Sing Sing, New York. He had four sons: Nathaniel B., Edmund, George and Joseph. Edmund Blunt was a hydrographer. Mount Blunt in Antarctica is named for him.

Nautical publisher

In 1824, his two sons, George and Edmund went into business with their father at the publishing house of marine works called E. & G. W. Blunt Publishing. Blunt published Blunt's Coastal Pilot, which became American Coast Pilot. American Coast Pilot began publication in 1796, published in Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was published until 1858 by the United States Hydrographic Office, reaching 21 editions by 1867. Its final publication was produced in New York.. Blunt expanded chart coverage into the Pacific Ocean and in 1857, expanded into the Indian Ocean.
The firm closed in 1872 and sold the chart copyrights and plates to the Coast Survey and U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office.