Blunt, George William

Related Category: Geography: Biographies

1802–78, American hydrographer; son of Edmund March Blunt, a pioneer publisher of nautical books and charts in Newburyport, Mass. He established (1821) himself in a similar business in New York and published the numerous editions of Bowditch's Navigator, Blunt's Coast Pilot, and nautical charts of the world. The copperplates of these maps and the copyrights to the Navigator and Coast Pilot were later purchased by the U.S. Hydrographic Office when that bureau began its publication work. From 1833 until his death, Blunt was first assistant in the U.S. Coast Survey. He also served for 32 years on the Board of Pilot Commissioners and did much to put through needed reforms in the U.S. Lighthouse Service.