Before Google maps, smart watches, and telephone books were created to help people navigate the city, there were city directories. The New York City directories listed the names and addresses of residents, churches, businesses, police stations, organizations, etc. and ran from approximately 1786 to 1934. There were multiple printers of city directories, but for this…

A handwritten circa 1721 Navigation Notebook currently featured in our exhibition Harry Potter: A History of Magic, on view until January 27, 2019, contains all sorts of information that may be helpful in determining one’s location at sea, including descriptions of the constellations, tables, charts, and two volvelles. A volvelle is a paper chart with movable…