American and European Railway Practice in the Economical Generation of Steam. Including The Materials and Construction of Coal-Burning Boilers, Combustion, The Variable Blast, Vaporization, Circulation, Superheating, Supplying and Heating Feed Water, Etc.,
New York & London: D. Van Nostrand & Sampson Low, Son & Co, 1861. Attractive first edition in original black blind stamped buckram with gilt titles to spine. The binding is quite rubbed to the front hinge with cracking to the spine edge. A little bumping. Small bookseller stamp from A. Franck in Paris to the inside paste down. Moderate foxing to the end papers, and light foxing, particularly to the edges of the rest of the book. The binding shows signs of having been re-sewn at some point to plate 17 - it would appear the block split. The repair is quite crude but only at this point and not affecting plate. Complete with all 77 engraved plates. Lovely Frontis engraving of a steam locomotive, "The Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works". Discrete library / owner's stamp to the title page shows that this belonged to the Chemins de Fer in Algeria. After the title and colophon, there is a full page railway map of Great Britain in 1858. Many of the engravings are very specific engine parts shown in full detail, others show whole locomotives. 192 pages + plates. 370 x 250 mm (14½ x 9¾ inches).