ABSTRACT

The goal of this chapter is to reveal the "complexes" of longitude advertisements. In summer of 1714 London was abuzz with the news that the Board of Longitude would hand over the enormous sum of 20,000 to anyone who successfully solved the navigational problem of longitude. A survey of the online Burney Newspaper Collection confirms this fact. In order to explicate the meaning of longitude advertisements within the natural philosophical and commercial climates of the day, this chapter is divided into three sections. The first will outline the problem of longitude and the formation of the Board of Longitude. The second will present the advertisements themselves with commentary meant to reveal how promoters used their advertisements to both speak to potential consumers and seek public validation. The third will offer some interpretation of the longitude advertising campaign and what it can teach us about natural philosophy, commercial culture, and the public sphere in London.