ENGINE

[The Stephenson Centenary 1881'.] Well-designed lithographic poster, 'Presented as a memento of the Centennial Commemoration' by Thomas Pumphrey, Newcastle grocer, with central portrait of Stephenson surrounded by seven related engravings.

Author: 
The Stephenson Centenary, 1881; Thomas Pumphrey, Grocer, Newcastle-on-Tyne; George Stephenson (1781-1848), engineer, 'Father of the Railways'
Publication details: 
'Presented as a memento of the Centennial Commemoration, by Thomas Pumphrey, Grocer, 48, Cloth Market, Newcastle-on-Tyne.' 9 June 1881.
£250.00

An extremely attractive memento, no other copy of which has been traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. Lithographic printing in black on 57 x 44.5 cm piece of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight creasing to margin at one edge, and the merest of spotting. Folded four times.

[ Sir Harry Ricardo, pioneering engine designer. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Harry R Ricardo') to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, regarding an invitation to give a course of lectures.

Author: 
Sir Harry Ricardo [ Sir Harry Ralph Ricardo ] (1885-1974), pioneering engine designer [ Royal Society of Arts, London ]
Publication details: 
Penotone, Lancing, Sussex. 22 July [1921].
£40.00

1p., 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. With the Society's date stamp and a query in red pencil. He apologises for the delay in replying to an invitation 'to give a short course of lectures': 'I should very much like to do this at some later date but I am afraid that I have already committed myself so deeply for this next winter and spring that it will not be possible for me to do so.' He is 'very flattered indeed' by the inviation and regrets having to decline it.

[ William Bridges Adams, locomotive engineer. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W Bridges Adams') regarding the reprinting of a forthcoming Spectator article by him in the Mechanics Magazine.

Author: 
William Bridges Adams (1797-1872), locomotive engineer, author, inventor of the Adams axle
Publication details: 
1 Adam Street, Adelphi [ London ]. 22 June 1854.
£38.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Adams' handwriting is difficult, and the name of the recipient is unclear. The letter begins: 'I expect the Spectator will have the article in on Saturday next - as I have returned the proof with the title which I composed to day | The Mechanics Magazine will I dare say be glad to copy it from the Spectator [...]'. He gives the address at which he will be staying for the following week: 'The Crouch | Lidford | Nr Lewes | Sussex'.

[ Sir Frederick Bramwell, engineer. ] Six Typed Letters Signed and four Typed Notes Signed (all ten 'Frederick Bramwell') to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, regarding matters relating to the Royal Society of Arts, including a royal visit.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Bramwell [ Sir Frederick Joseph Bramwell ] (1818-1903), British locomotive and civil engineer [ Sir Henry Trueman Wood; Royal Society of Arts; Stockton and Darlington Railway ]
Publication details: 
All ten on letterheads of Bramwell & Harris, 5 Great George Street, Westminster, SW [ London ]. All ten dating from 1901.
£80.00

Each item 1p., 4to. The collection in good condition, on lightly aged paper. The correspondence shows the eighty-three-year-old Bramwell as an active member of the Society's Council. One letter relates a paper by 'Mr. Madgen' on 'the dwelling accommodation in London', another refers to the death of a 'charming colleague' named Cobb.

[ Robert Stephenson, railway engineer. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rob Stephenson') to '- Moberley Esq', regarding the purchase of a 'Machine'.

Author: 
Robert Stephenson (1803-1859), pioneering railway engineer, constructor of 'Stephenson's Rocket'.
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 24 Great George Street, Westminster [ London ]. 1 June 1852.
£450.00

2pp., 8vo. Bifolium. In good condition, with the text of the letter on the first leaf, and the second laid down on a leaf removed from an album. Stephenson's letter in good condition, on lightly aged paper. He writes that he is sending the recipient the reply he has received from 'Mr Harrison'. He feels that it would be better for Moberley to 'purchase the old Machine of the Contractors Messrs Rush & Lawton'. He does not know their address, but if they send him 'any drawing, it will be forwarded'. Rush and Lawton were Newcastle railway contractors. The recipient is probably W. H.

Two printed documents, 'In the Matter of the Hull and Selby Railway': 'In the House of Lords. [...] Copy of the Petition of Robert Raikes, Esq. in Opposition to the Bill' and 'Objections against the Bill, on the Part of Robert Raikes, Esq.'

Author: 
[Robert Raikes (1765-1837) of Welton House, banker; The Hull and Selby Railway Bill, 1836]
Publication details: 
Both documents printed by 'Meredith and Reeve, Lincoln's Inn, For Wilkinson, Hull.' Both dated 1836.
£120.00

The two items are uniform in layout, on folio bifoliums, with the text covering the whole of the recto of the first leaf, and the details printed lengthwise on the reverse of the second. Both in good condition, and folded into the customary packets. An early example of nimbyism, rather rich coming from a banker. The petition begins: 'In the House of Lords.

Watt and the Measurement of Power. Being the Watt Anniversary Lecture delivered before The Greenock Philosophical Society, 5 February, 1897.

Author: 
Sir William Henry Preece (1834-1913), 'Engineer-in-Chief and Electrician, General Post Office, London; Vice-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.'
Publication details: 
London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Limited, Stamford Street and Charing Cross. 1897.
£120.00

8vo: 13 pp. Stitched. In original cream printed wraps. On aged, spotted paper, in heavily worn wraps. Facsimile of handwriting at head of front wrap reads 'With the Author's Compliments'. Two diagrams in text.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Colladon' | professeur à l Ecole Centrale') to 'Monsieur le Directeur Général des Douanes, Paris'.

Author: 
Jean-Daniel Colladon (1802-1893), Swiss physicist and engineer, Professor of Mechanics at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Paris [Eugène Flachat (1802-1873)] [steam engines; railway]
Publication details: 
27 January 1835; 'à Lyon chez Messieurs Pine Des Granges', on letterhead of the École.
£200.00

4to bifolium: 2 pp, with address on otherwise-blank second leaf. Very good on lightly aged paper. Slight wear to extremities. A significant document, casting light on the relative states of engineering in early nineteenth-century France and England, and the role of the scientist in France at that time.

Detailed pencil illustrations of nine steam engines [locomotives].

Author: 
B. Reynell [Victorian, Edwardian illustration; railway locomotives; steam engines]
Publication details: 
Without date or place [Edwardian?].
£200.00

Landscape sketchbook of twelve leaves. Dimensions of each leaf roughly 26.5 x 38 cm. Unbound and stitched. In original brown patterned wraps. Good, on lightly discoloured and spotted drawing paper, with some wear to extremities, heavy wear at head of spine, and in heavily-worn wraps. The first leaf, otherwise blank, has had a small square taken out of it, and there are stubs indicating the removal of a couple of leaves.

Typed Letter Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Herbert Sammons [D. Napier & Son]
Publication details: 
22 August 1947; on letterhead of D. Napier & Son Limited, Acton.
£35.00

Scottish engineer (died 1967), noted for his innovative design of a gas turbine engine. One page, 12mo. Very good. Pinholes to one corner and bearing a date stamp. He is honoured to be nominated as a fellow of the Society, and encloses the proposal and a cheque (neither present), thanking the Council 'for the kind invitation extended to me'. Signed 'H. Sammons'.

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