Richard Dunn (Royal Museums Greenwich) and Simon Schaffer (University of Cambridge) Cambridge University Library holds the complete papers of the Board of Longitude through the eighteenth century until its abolition in 1828. This collection throws a vivid light on the role of the British state in encouraging invention and discovery, on the energetic culture of technical ingenuity in the long eighteenth century, and on many aspects of exploration and maritime travel in the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic. This meeting marks the online release of a digitised version of this archive and many related manuscript and printed materials of crucial importance for understanding the cultures of travel, invention and inquiry in the long eighteenth century. The project has been supported by JISC and forms part of the Cambridge Digital Library. This remarkable digital archive consolidates resources held at Cambridge University Library as well the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, together with detailed metadata and contextual resources to place the material within a rich intellectual framework.

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