A 1714 Act of Parliament established a £20,000 prize (£1.5 million today) for the discovery of longitude at sea. Cambridge University Library holds the archive of the Board of Longitude which covers the entire history of 'the Longitude Problem'.
The archive of over 65,000 digitised images is now available via the Cambridge University Digital Library, which also contains works by Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton.
The Treasures of the Longitude archive includes details minutes from the first recorded meeting of the Board through to its dissolution in 1828. Also include are Captain Cook’s logbooks and a letter from Captain Bligh.
For more information, see the JISC press release.