Art and Old Iron Jarvis • SPECIAL PRICE • £ 7.50 • (E) This lovely book is subtitled A Three Dimensional View of the Industrial Revolution. On retirement more than twenty years ago, the author was drawn to the simplicity and to the beauty of early engineering, since when he has constructed a number of model working replicas of machines from the highways and byways of the Industrial Revolution. Visitors to the “Model Engineer Exhibition” will have seen these models, where over the years, they have all been awarded either gold or silver medals. This book is not a detailed “how to build” book, but combines the story of the prototypes with those of the models, and recounts some of the difficulties the author encountered on the way. A total of 13 prototypes are covered, from a hypocycloidal engine to Trevithick’s, Griffiths’ and Dr. Church’s steam road vehicles, Brown’s patent gas engine of 1823, and Davidson’s electric locomotive of 1840. The book itself is a wonderful read, being both entertaining and educational, and it is also extremely well produced, with all-colour photographs of Ron Jarvis’s models. Very highly recommended to anyone with an interest in early machinery or model making. 102 pages, around 70 illustrations, the majority in colour, paperback. Published by the author. Add to shopping basket

Ironmaking - the history and archaeology of the iron industry Hayman • £18.99 • (D) See main entry in the ‘Archaeology (industrial and otherwise)’ section. Add to shopping basket

A Day at the Factory 1844 • The Penny Magazine • £ 9.95 • (D) Taken from the The Penny Magazine, the world’s first weekly illustrated magazine, this is an eye-opening look inside British factories at the height of the Industrial Revolution in 1844. Covered are Butterley Iron-Works, Barrowfield Dye-Works in Glasgow, Felling Chemical-Works in Newcastle, a cutlery works in Sheffield, a lead works, a cabinet factory, Stephenson’s Locomotive Works, an oil Mill, a starch factory and many more. Not only are the technical processes described but, in many cases, you get an insight into the conditions under which the workers did their jobs – usually horrifying. A fascinating book. 152 pages. 50 woodcut illustrations. Larger format paperback. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

Two Great Railroad Exhibits at Chicago Trautwine • {1894} • £ 5.25 • (G) Reproduced here are two article from Cassier’s Magazine regarding two of the major exhibits in the railroad section of the World’s Columbian Exposition held (a year late) in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. The two exhibits covered are those of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad which had created a huge exhibition tracing the history of the railway locomotive, using both preserved locomotives, full size replicas of various important machines, current locomotives from around the U.S.A, Great Britain and France. Around 50 B & W photos, plus maps and sketches give a taster of what must have been a colossal exhibition, and leaves the reader wishing he could have been there. John C. Trautwine’s text is readable and the whole contains comments and clarifications by John H. White, retired long-serving curator of railroads at the Smithsonian. An oddity, but well worth having at this price. 48 landscape format pages. Paperback. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

By Precision into Power Vessey • £19.99 • (C) ‘A Bicentennial Record of D. Napier & Son’, a firm which started in general engineering, moved into printing presses and accurate measuring instruments. Steam power doesn’t seem to have figured highly in their products, but it was the coming of the IC engine which brought them fame and fortune, starting with cars, but rapidly moving into aircraft engines, and diversifyng from there into high power marine engines, and from one of them, into powering Britain’s most famous diesel railway locomotive - the ‘Deltic’. Alan Vessey knows the Company and its products well, as is evident from this informative, and readable book. 256 well illustrated pages. Paperback. Tempus Publishing Add to shopping basket

The Eiffel Tower Bolloch • £ 6.95 • (F) This little book contains 62 B & W pictures of the Eiffel Tower from the photography collection at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Of these, 40 were taken during the tower’s construction, including a series of 11 taken from the same spot between June 1888 and April 1889, which show just how fast the tower was assembled. These photos really are fascinating and, if I have a crit, it is that it whilst most are full page, the book would have been even better with larger format pages - but at this price you will just have to use a magnifying glass! 31 pages (in English) on the Tower’s history and the photographers. 62 pages of plates. Paperback. Musée d’Orsay Add to shopping basket

La Tour de 300 mètres Lemoine • £79.99 • (A) When it was completed in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was the highest structure in the world, measuring 300 metres (984 feet). Built for the World’s Fair, it was initially granted a 20-year permit; this permit was thankfully extended and now the Eiffel Tower is one of the world’s most famous structures, having become practically synonymous with Paris itself and receiving more than six million visitors annually. This reprint (at 14.8” x 20.9” and over 4 kgs the biggest book we have ever sold) explores the design and construction of this remarkable building; originally published in 1900 as a large folio by Gustave Eiffel himself in a limited edition of 500 copies, the original was never sold on the market—it was exclusively given and donated by Eiffel. Featuring 53 double-page plates of 4,300 technical drawings explaining the design, including the various lifts, as well as 33 photographs of the construction, the book reveals the complex and fascinating process of building the Tower to life. . The drawings will especially appeal to model engineers wishing to model Eiffel’s masterpiece (in one-tenth scale just 100’ feet high!) but everyone will appreciate this very rare and special book about Paris’s glorious mascot. Text in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch & Japanese. Hardbound. Taschen. Add to shopping basket

Le Viaduc de Garabit un géant d'un autre temps Rochès • £15.75 • (E) The year 1889 must have been good for Gustave Eiffel as it saw the opening not just of his Tower in Paris, but of the Garabit viaduct, designed and built by his company and, then and now, the highest railway bridge in the world, situated on the CdF du Midi's line from Beziers to Paris which went straight across the Masssif Central, and had more than its fair share of exceptional bridges as a result. This very well produced French language book tells the story of the viaduct, and its predecessors, right through to the present day, when it has Norman Foster's even higher road bridge for company - and the railway is closed for essential updating to the permanent way....... 126 pages full of photos - many in colour, drawings and maps. Paperback. La Vie du Rail Add to shopping basket

The Florida Keys Overseas Railway Zeiller • £33.50 • (B) The Florida Keys Railway was the brainchild of Henry M. Flagler, and extended his Florida East Coast Railway some 150 miles south from Miami to Key West, only 105 miles from Havana, Cuba. The railway achieved this by a combination of island (or ‘key’ hoping) with some extremely long linking bridges - up to 7 miles long. Construction took just over 6 years, the line opening in January 1912, and functioning till 1935 when it was largely destroyed in a hurricane. Whilst the whole route was shallow water, the construction of this line was a considerable feat and is well recorded here in the notes and 129 photographs of Bill Glass, a young engineer of the line. Another 24 photos, 18 in colour, show the route, remains and replacing roads today. 156 well produced pages in all. A book of considerable interest to civil engineers. Hardbound. Signature Press. Add to shopping basket

Mercer Chronometers Mercer • £35.00 • (A) See main entry in “Horology” section - this book is, inter-alia, the history of Thomas Mercer Ltd. of London and St. Albans, a firm which made more chronometers than any other world wide. Add to shopping basket

Potts of Leeds Potts • £45.00 • (A) William Potts & Sons were one of the most important makers of turret clocks in Britain, exporting these world-wide. The author traces the clockmaking activities of 5 generations of his family from 1790 and 1958, and describes the development of the business and its clocks, many of which survive. Mainly historical, but including technical detail, this is an enjoyable glimpse of a time when every self-respecting public building boasted its won external clock, often manufactured by Potts. 432 pages, over 700 illustrations, appendices etc. Hardbound. Mayfield Books. Add to shopping basket

English and American Toolbuilders 1916 • Roe • £ 16.00 • (C) This is an interesting book on the development of machine tools. The British are: Wilkinson, Bramah, Bentham, Brunel, Maudslay, Bodmer, Fairburn, Nasmyth and Whitworth. The Americans are: Whitney, North, Colt, Pratt, Robbins & Lawrence, Brown & Sharpe amongst others. A fascinating and important book for any historian, or any engineer with pride in his skills. who wants to know more about the way the tools of his trade developed. 416 illustrated page paperback. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

English and American Lathes 1900 • Horner • £11.25 • (C) This quite extraordinary book was written, by a British author, at a time when American lathes were just beginning to be imported into the U.K., and was intended to provide an unbiased review of the different national practices. The text is excellent and there are 300 illustrations, the vast majority engravings, which really do show how English and American lathes differed. If you are interested in the development of lathes this is a book you absolutely should have. 179 larger format paperback pages. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

The Wonders of Machinery Hall 1892-93 American Machinist • £10.30 • (C) Machinery Hall at the World's Columbian Exhibition, held in Chicago during 1893, had a floor area of 14 acres, but over 700 would-be exhibitors had to be turned away for lack of space. Thanks to this book, based on articles from American Machinist magazine, and including photographs and drawings from this and other sources, you can see the incredible displays that were there, ranging from a 72" stroke quadruple expansion Reynolds-Corliss engine, driving a 30' diameter flywheel with a 76" wide face, which provided the electricity for the whole Exhibition, through various other engines and machine tools from many countries, down to displays of English terra-cotta drain pipes and baths. It must have been a mind-blowing display and even if probably very noisy, this fascinating book made me wish I could have been there. 192 pages. Vast numbers of B&W photos and engravings. Large format Paperback. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

Mr Bowler of Bath Andrews • £ 5.95 • (G) The city of Bath is generally regarded as a garden of Georgian gentility, free from all taint of industry. The Bath Industrial Heritage Centre strives valiantly to correct this misconception with Exhibitions on the local stone mines and in particular “Mr Bowler’s Business” which recreates the premises of the business founded by Jonathan Burdett Bowler in 1872 and which his grandson finally closed in 1969. Bowler’s were general engineers and foundrymen with a thriving aerated water business on the side. As this fascinating book makes clear, they would undertake any work, even painting, path laying etc, and were an important element in local commercial activity. Bowler’s other claim to fame was they they never bought any machinery new, and never threw anything out - the result being that the Exhibition is an incredible display of early machine tools (often very early), shown in an ‘as used’ state, with many capable of working. And there is the world’s leading Exhibition of lemonade manufacturing machinery and bottles! It is a fascinating Museum and this book, describing both the original Bowler business, and the museum exhibits should be read by industrial historians and anyone who knows the museum. 96 well illustrated pages. Paperback. Published by the author. Add to shopping basket

Carlisle’s Crane Makers - the Cowans Sheldon Story Earnshaw • £ 9.95 • (F) At the opposite end of England from Bath and Stothert & Pitt, Britain’s other major crane maker could also be found in a Roman city, in this case Carlisle. Cowans Sheldon also made dockside, and floating, cranes, but their best known product was the rail mounted crane, breakdown or more utilitarian, examples of which could be found all over the U.K. and much farther afield, along with their other staple product - turntables. This is a very good history of the firm’s development, and its products, all in a well produced, excellent value, 72 page paperback with 120 B & W photos. Nostalgia Road. Add to shopping basket

Ships for a Nation - John Brown & Company 1847 - 1971 Johnston • 14.99 • (A) Here you have the full history of the various companies which formed John Brown & Company, one of Britain’s most famous shipbuilders, if not the most famous. Renowned for building the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and the QE2, John Brown’s Clydebank yard produced 100s of vessels, often at the cutting edge of technology, up till its closure in the 1970s. This is a glorious book in every way, full of photographs from the company’s archives, with maps, drawings and an excellent text. 368 pages. Paperback.West Dunbartonshire Libraries & Museums Add to shopping basket

Nasmyth, Wilson & Co Cantrell • £12.99 • (E) A short but good history of the locomotive building activities of this firm which produced a considerable number of locomotives, the bulk for export, for a century up till 1938, when they made a planned retreat from locomotive building. Whilst Nasmyth, Wilson was never quite big enough to be in the 'first rank' of locomotive builders, the longevity of many of its products was testament to the quality of its products. 160 very well illustrated pages and a full works list. Paperback. Tempus Publishing Add to shopping basket

A Square Deal All Round... Boulton • £24.99 • (A) The history of Perkins Engines: 1932 to 2006, this book was commissioned by Perkins Engines "to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the company by Frank Perkins and Charles Chapman. It charts the growth of the business from the humblest of beginnings to a position of global leadership in the supply of high-speed industrial power. The company, now part of Caterpillar Inc, enjoys a level of success that even an entrepreneurial business man and an engineering genius could not have anticipated all those years ago". 256 page, well illustrated A4 format hardback. Add to shopping basket

Beyer, Peacock and Co., Ltd., 5000 1907 • £ 9.00 • (C) This is a digital (high quality photostat) reprint of an article which appeared in "Engineering" of the 4th and 18th January 1907 celebrating the 5000th locomotive built by Beyer, Peacock at their Gorton Works. Whilst the bulk of the many illustrations are of locomotives, 10 larger photographs, three maps, and the full text, cover the works and its facilities, which is why this book is here. 44 spiral bound pages. Flexible plastic covers. Joe Lloyd (If you want to know what the 5000th locomotive was - buy this!) Add to shopping basket

Manchester’s Water Quayle • £12.99 • (F) Told here is how Manchester built the world’s first municipal water supply in the Longendale Valley between 1848 and 1877 - a massive civil engineering project. The author was Headworks and Aqueducts Engineer at Longendale, so knows his subject, and combines his knowledge well with many original images and documents, and with information extracted from the reports of J.F. Bateman, the designer and constructor of the reservoirs. Fascinating as a record of a huge project, this book also drives home the complexities of providing decent clean water to large urban areas. 127 pages, well illustrated with B & W photos, technical drawings and maps. Paperback. Tempus Publishing Add to shopping basket

Munitions of War 1868 • Norton & Valentine • £ 9.65 • (D) This reproduces the extremely rare report commissioned by the Government of the United States on the munitions of war, mainly European, exhibited at the 1867 Paris Universal Exhibition. Just over half of the book is devoted to ordnance, small-arms to heavy, the rest covering everything from tents to torpedoes, medicine chests to marine engines, Martello towers to Mitchells’ monitors. A unique snapshot of armaments two years after the end of the American Civil War, with technological and historical details not found elsewhere. No detail plans, but a good number of engravings. 286 page paperback. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

The Iron Industry of the Forest of Dean Meredith • £15.99 • (E) Although the Forest of Dean is now mainly thought of in connection with coal mining, iron was vital to the economy of the area, and nationally, from the Roman period until late in the twentieth century. Both the mining and smelting aspects of the industry are covered in some detail here, as are the not inconsiderable number of remains still to be found. 159 pages. Numerous illustrations, including 29 in colour. Maps. Paperback. Tempus Publishing Add to shopping basket

Working at Swindon Works 1930-1960 Timms • £16.99 • (D) Interesting book on working at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway - later British Railways during what was, arguably, their golden age. Told from the perspective of the workers, and often in their own words, and not just those in the workshops, but in the administration, the very important Pay Office, the maintenance staff and so on; also covered are leisure activities, work during WW11 and the run-up to Nationalisation. 160 pages. Around 150 b&w illustrations and photos. Paperback. Tempus Publishing Add to shopping basket

The Drainage of the Fens Hills • £14.99 • (C) Those of us who don’t live on the Fens tend to take their drainage for granted, treating it as some long ago event, but as this excellent book from Rev. Dr. Richard Hills makes clear, not only was it a long drawn out process, it is one that, at least for the present, continues today. It is a story of the harnessing of nature when possible, but more frequently wind, steam, i.c. and electric power to pump water from level to level. It is also very much a human story, and both the technical and social sides are well covered in this updated and enlarged edition of the author’s 1967 book Machines, Mills and Uncountable Costly Necessities, A Short History of the Drainage of the Fens. This edition has 205 pages, numerous maps, drawings and photographs, and is a paperback from Landmark Publishing. Add to shopping basket

Change Gear Devices 1903 • Perrigo • £ 6.15 • (G) The author looks at twenty-nine patents for lathe gear change devices taken out between 1854 and 1903; he had ignored 135 other less practical ideas. This doesn’t mean that all the ones he does consider are “normal” but they are all of interest. There is not much of practical use in this book, but it is a fascinating treasure trove of information for anyone interested in the development of machinery. 81 pages. 36 engravings. Paperback. Lindsay Publications Item Deleted

Rifles & Knives 1911-1912 • £ 5.40 • (H) Extracted from Machinery Magazine, the bulk of this book is devoted to four fascinating, and very well illustrated articles on how the Canadian Ross Rifle Company mass-produced its range of advanced rifles, and especially how it achieved the required accuracy long before the CNC age. A much shorter single article describes how the Press Button Knife Co. mass produced folding knives, at a time when most knives were individually produced. 64 pages in all. Paperback. Lindsay Publications Add to shopping basket

The Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield and its workers Pam • £ 14.00 • (B) Until its closure in 1988, the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield was the major producer of rifles and other ordnance in the U-K. From comparatively small beginnings during the Napoleonic Wars, its operations were greatly expanded during the Crimean War, using the then latest American techniques for making weapons entirely by machinery, and the expansion continued until after WWII, by which time the factory site was huge. This isn’t so much the story of the weapons made, but of the development of the factory, manufacturing processes and especially the workers. Interesting and well produced book, full of drawings, photos and maps. 213 page hardback, published by the author. Add to shopping basket

Our Work During the Great War 1919 • Holman Bros • £ 7.99 • (F) Unusual reprint of a publication issued by Holman Bros on the 1st January 1919. Holman’s were major suppliers to the mining industry, especially of drilling equipment, but during WW1 were also called upon to produce a wide range of munitions and war material, as well as continuing to produce drills. This publication shows and describes many of these items, and is also a tribute to the largely female workforce who produced them. Indirectly it also gives more evidence of just how horrendous trench warfare was. An interesting, if slightly sombre, reflection on the industry of the time. 48 well produced and illustrated A4 format pages. Softcover. The Trevithick Society Add to shopping basket

Fire-Arms Manufacture 1880 £ 5.85 • (G) Whether you are interested in firearms or not is irrelevant in considering this book, as it is about mass production methods, long before Henry Ford invented them! Describes the development of mass production, going back as far as 1814, and shows you the machines and techniques used. Interesting book. Low cost. Unusual reading and great woodcuts. 80 page paperback. Lindsay Publications. Add to shopping basket

Cornish Explosives Earl • £35.00 • (A) Giving its mining importance, the fact that Cornwall also had a major explosive manufacturing industry comes as no surprise, and this is the second (revised and enlarged) history of this industry describes the types of explosives, the manufacturers, the machinery used in the various processes, and the people involved. An interesting and informative read, and a very well produced book of 365 well illustrated pages. Hardbound. The Trevithick Society. Add to shopping basket

Bickford Smith & Co. Limited 1831 – 1931 • £14.99 • (F) Add to shopping basket

Princes of the Working Valley Buckley • £ 9.99 • (E) See the ‘Mines & Mining’ section. Add to shopping basket