STEAM

[ Periodical; political & literary ] Extracts from The Britannia [.] Conservative Weekly Newspaper

Author: 
[Newspaper]
Publication details: 
London: Printed at the Steam Press of Kelly & Co, [1840]
£320.00

16pp., 8vo, formerly sewn but stab marks only left, hence disbound, dulled but good condition. From the initial Address the newspaper has been in existence only 12 months, and this is the first digest, with stirring poems by Havali, a Sketches of Character exclusive to the paper, by Mrs S.C. Hall, lead article on England, France and Russia, a short piece on The Opium Question, etc. London University (Senate House) has the only recorded copy of this item, and I've found no Library holding runs of the actual newspaper.

[ Jocelyn Fitzgerald Ruthven, master mariner. ] Twenty-five items from his papers: correspondence, vellum certificates, commissions, testimonials, including address signed by 79 passengers on first (maiden) voyage to Australia of SS Orient.

Author: 
Jocelyn Fitzgerald Ruthven [ born Jocelyn Fitzgerald Trotter ] (1849-1943), master mariner in Britain and Australia, Commodore of the Orient Line
Publication details: 
[ Orient Steam Navigation Company Ltd. ] England (London, Liverpool and Redhill) and Australia (New South Wales), between 1863 and 1912.
£2,250.00

Ruthven was born in Ireland, the son of Galway landowner Clifford Trotter. He was a master mariner, a Younger Brother of Trinity House, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and wrote several nautical manuals. At the time of his retirement as commodore of the Orient Line of ships in 1911, Ruthven had completed forty-five years at sea and thirty years in command of Orient steamers (Orient Steam Navigation Company, Limited – hereafter OSNC).

[ 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'.

[ George Hudson, 'The Railway King'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo Hudson'), complaining to an unnamed party within a few months of his death of the non-arrival of a portmanteau at Kirkham Railway Station.

Author: 
George Hudson (1800-1871), 'The Railway King', railway promoter and fraudster
Publication details: 
Kirkham Station [ Yorkshire ]. 9 October 1871.
£300.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, tipped in onto part of a leaf from an album. The main body of the letter reads: 'I am sorry to say the portmanteau has not arrived - will you enquire about it - I hope you addressed it to the Kirkahm Station on the North Eastern railway.' In a postscript he gives the full address as 'Mr Hudson Kirkham Station on the North Eastern railway York', adding that he will pick it up 'in a few Days when we return'. The letter may result from a mix-up with Kirkham Station in Lancashire.

[ 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.

[Joseph Pease, Quaker industrialist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Pease') to an unnamed correspondent, complaining that 'every action and transaction of Railway Companies must be suspected examined & re examined'.

Author: 
Joseph Pease (1799-1872), Quaker railway company promoter and industrialist
Publication details: 
Southend, Darlington. 1 April 1856.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper. He has been 'too unwell to attend much to business', and his 'Care in this matter has been to meet your convenience but not depart from instructions - to the best of my knowledge - at a time when every action and transaction of Railway Companies must be suspected & examined & re examined'. He concludes in the hope that his correspondent will 'deposit the Note on rect of this and obtain the Cash', adding that he 'cannot obtain any further instructions from the Board for several days'.

[Voyage to Australia, 1912.] Autograph notebook of H. A. Butcher of Wrexham, containing account of voyage to Australia from England, in 1912. With details of 'A few friends we met on the "Orama" during our voyage to Sydney ex London October 25 1912'.

Author: 
H. A. Butcher of Wrexham, Wales [SS Orama, 'Orient' line steam ship; Australia; Australiana]
Publication details: 
'[...] on The "Orama" during our voyage to Sydney [Australia] ex London [England] Oct 25. 1912'. [Disembarking at Melbourne, 2 December 1912.]
£280.00

96pp., 12mo (15.5 x 9.5 cm.), in 'Note Book for Pen or Pencil Writing'. Comprising the account of the voyage on 75pp. at the back of the volume, and the names and details of fellow passengers on 21pp. at the front. Built in 1911, SS Orama was torpedoed and sunk in 1917 while serving as convoy escort. In good condition internally, on lightly aged paper, in aged and worn card covers. The front section is described inside the front cover: 'A few friends we met on the "Orama" during our voyage to Sydney ex London October 25 1912', and the 21pp.

[Printed item with chromolithograph by Leighton Brothers of Drury Lane.] Thorley's Illustrated Farmers' Almanack and Diary, 1887.

Author: 
[Joseph Thorley, Steam Printing Works, Thornhill Bridge, King's Cross, London; Leighton Brothers, Drury Lane, London, chromolithographic printers; A. W. Holden]
Publication details: 
London: Joseph Thorley, Steam Printing Works, Thornhill Bridge, King's Cross, N. [Printed in 1886 for 1887.]
£56.00

48pp., 12mo. In illustrated coloured printed wraps, with the front cover showing a farmyard scene, and the back cover carrying a portrait of 'H.R.H. the Prince of Wales | President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1886. | President of Indian and Colonial Exhibition, 1886.' The double-page chromolithograph, between pp.16 and 17, is titled '"Since we were boys together." From a painting by A. W. Holden', and shows two eighteenth-century gentlemen, seated at a table, drinking and reminiscing.

[Printed item.] Thorley's Illustrated Farmers' Almanack and Diary. 1895.

Author: 
[Joseph Thorley, Steam Printing Offices, Thornhill Bridge, King's Cross, London; G. E. Robertson, engraver]
Publication details: 
Joseph Thorley, King's Cross, London, N. ['At his Steam Printing Offices, Thornhill Bridge, King's Cross, London.'] [Printed in 1894 for 1895.]
£56.00

64pp., 12mo. In illustrated coloured printed wraps, with the front cover showing a selection of well-fed farmyard animals on a green in front of what looks like Windsor Castle. With three plates printed in brown: '"Sport Provided"' (boy hiding under bridge tampering with maid's fishing line), 'An Old Offender' by G. E. Robertson (double page, man in eighteenth-century dress shaking his fist at a donkey in a pound) and '"The Omnibus Driver's Story"' (omnibus driver and four passengers). In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight staining to back cover.

[Alexander Hattrick, carpenter, or R. Turnbull.] 28 illustrations: depicting Australian scenes (panoramas of North Head Quarantine Station; Farm Cove, Sydney; Hobart, Tasmania) and a narrative of an excursion to Nurstead Woods, Kent.

Author: 
[Alexander Hattrick or R. Turnbull; Alexander Hatrick (1857-1918), New Zealand merchant; Pacific Steam Navigation Co.; North Head Quarantine Station, Sydney; Nurstead Woods, Kent; 'Swift Sure' whaler]
Publication details: 
One item with date 'May 1893'. All twelve items on stationery of the Pacific Steam Navigation Co., including eight 'Soundings' forms, filled in 'For Chief Engineer', signed 'Alex Hattrick', and dated 25 March and 2, 7, 8, 11, 18, 24, 29 June [1893?]
£850.00

28 illustrations: 3 of which depict Australian scenes (panoramas of North Head Quarantine Station; Farm Cove, Sydney; Hobart, Tasmania) with a cartoon/narrative of an excursion to Nurstead Woods, Kent. One item with date 'May 1893'. All twelve items on stationery of the Pacific Steam Navigation Co., including eight 'Soundings' forms, filled in 'For Chief Engineer', signed 'Alex Hattrick', and dated 25 March and 2, 7, 8, 11, 18, 24, 29 June [1893?] One item with date 'May 1893'. The twelve items in fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Charmingly-executed in a naive style.

[Samuel Smiles, railway administrator and author of 'Self-Help'.] Autograph notebook, containing information relating to his work as Secretary of the South Eastern Railway, including memorandums, tables and transcripts of letters.

Author: 
Samuel Smiles (1812-1904), railway administrator, biographer and author of the influential book 'Self-Help' (1859) [South Eastern Railway; Victorian steam engines; nineteenth-century locomotives]
Publication details: 
Smiles's ownership inscription on fly-leaf: 'S Smiles, South Eastern Railway | 1854.' Entries dating from between 1854 and 1886.
£2,800.00

According to Smiles's entry in the Oxford DNB, he was 'prominent in the negotiations for the amalgamation of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway [by which he was employed] with the North Eastern, which was effected in 1854 and abolished his own office. Thereupon he left Leeds for London on being appointed secretary to the South Eastern Railway (11 November). He held the post for twelve years, in the course of which he successfully arranged for the extension of the line from Charing Cross to Cannon Street (1858–9).

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.

Copy of Autograph Letter Signed ('Frank H. Evans') from the banker and Liberal politician Sir Francis Henry Evans to the proprietor of the White Star Line Thomas Henry Ismay, complaining of the treatment of his sister-in-law on a transatlantic voyage

Author: 
Sir Francis Henry Evans (1840-1907) of Tubbendens, Orpington, Kent, banker and Liberal politician [Thomas Henry Ismay (1837-1899), founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company [White Star Line]]
Publication details: 
5 August [189]4.
£60.00

3pp., 12mo. An early sort of carbon copy. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'Thomas H Ismay Esq | Liverpool'.

[Printed handbill.] 'A Course of Lectures on Nursing the Sick Will be given in the Public Institution, Crown Yard, St. Ives, On Wednesdays for Four Weeks, Commencing 27th Feb., 1901, at 7-30 p.m. Lecturer: Miss G. Brocklehurst.'

Author: 
Miss G. Brocklehurst; J. Hazlitt, District Secretary, St Ives, Hunts [Huntingdonshire County Council; J. G. Hankin & Son, Steam Printers; nursing]
Publication details: 
'J. Hazlitt, District Secretary. | St. Ives, 25th Feb., 1901.' ['J. G. Hankin & Son, Steam Printers, St. Ives, Hunts.']
£38.00

1p., 8vo (25 x 18.5 cm). In fair condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper. 19 lines, printed in a variety of fonts and point sizes, in a style characteristic of the period. Headed: 'HUNTS. COUNTY COUNCIL. | TECHNICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE. | DISTRICT OF ST. IVES.' Signed in type by Hazlitt at the end. 'The Lectures are FREE to all; and it is hoped that many people will attend them, as they will be of a Homely, Useful and Practical Character.'

Printed circular, in the form of a facsimile letter from A. Fleming Nisbett, Secretary, The London Steam Omnibus Company LImited, designed to accompany 'an advanced copy' of the Company's prospectus, and offering 'a Founder's Share'.

Author: 
[A. Fleming Nisbett, Secretary, The London Steam Omnibus Company Limited [later the Motor Traction Company], 133 Finsbury Pavement, London, EC.]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The London Steam Omnibus Company Limited, 133 Finsbury Pavement, London, EC. July 1898.
£80.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Heavily-aged and worn. Addressed 'Dear Sir', and with facsimile of signature 'For the London Steam Omnibus Co. Ltd. | A. Flemg Nisbett | Secretary.' The circular begins with the reason for sending an advance copy of the prospectus. 'My object in giving you this early intimation is that you may, if you desire, secure beforehand a Founder's Share in the profits of the coming Steam Traffic upon the Roads - which Traffic appears likely to become one day as popular as Steam on Railways'.

Scrapbook containing two hundred engravings and photographs of mainly Victorian and Edwardian traction engines, road rollers and locomotives, with one blueprint.

Author: 
[Victorian and Edwardian traction engines]
Victorian and Edwardian traction engines
Publication details: 
The scrapbook undated (collection assembled in 1920s?).
£325.00
Victorian and Edwardian traction engines

The scrapbook is landscape 8vo (28 x 18.5 cm), and contains 28 leaves of brown paper tied together with ribbon, on which, together with the inside of the back cover, the images (dating from between 1860 and 1928) are laid down. The scrapbook lacks the front cover, and its leaves are worn, but the images are in good overall condition, with occasional wear and creasing. Ranging in size from 14.5 x 11 cm ('Fowler 8/c Traction About 1875. Jointed Horn Plates.') to 7.5 x 5.5 cm ('S/c Traction (About 1875-80)'.

[Printed 1921 prospectus.] The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited. Offer for Sale of £4,000,000 Seven per cent. Mortgage Debenture Stock at the price of £90 per cent. [With separate application form.]

Author: 
[Sir Alfred Booth, Chairman, The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited]
 The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited.
Publication details: 
The Central Stationery & Printing Co., Ltd., 19, North John Street, Liverpool. [The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited. 1921.]
£85.00
 The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited.

Folio, 3 pp; 8vo, 1 p. Bifolium. With the title lengthwise on reverse of second leaf, which also carries a table of 'The Fleets of the Cunard Company and of its Allied Lines' (both of vessels 'in commission' and 'building'). In small type. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Detailed prospectus quoting letter from 'the Chairman of the Cunard Company, Sir Alfred Booth, Bart'. Accompanying printed application form (8vo, 1 p). Both prospectus and application with the stamp of the Edinburgh stockbroker A. W. Banks.

Three glass slides of photographs relating to the wreck of the SS Schiller off the Isles of Scilly, 1875: 'Lifeboat in which Survivors came ashore', 'Digging the last graves' and 'A funeral'.

Author: 
[The wreck of the SS Schiller ('the Victorian Titanic'), off the Scilly Isles, 1875; German Transatlantic Steam Navigation Line]
Publication details: 
[1875.] Gibson & Sons, Penzance & Scilly Isles.
£320.00

Three striking unfamiliar photographs (the last two in particular excellent compositions) of a significant historical event. The three slides are bound in 8 cm glass squares, with none of the glass shattered, and the images themselves in good condition, clear and unfaded. Each mount carries the stamp of the photographers Gibson & Sons. With numbered labels carrying a shelfmark. Each mount titled in manuscript. ONE: ' Schiller" wreck. Lifeboat in which Survivors came ashore'.

Detailed coloured hand-drawn plan of a broad gauge locomotive, with dimensions, on large piece of cloth headed 'F.C.G.O.A.', and text in Spanish and English, designed by the Stephenson Locomotive Works for the Argentine Great Western Railway Company.

Author: 
Robert Stephenson & Co. Ltd., Locomotive Works, Darlington [railway engines; F.C.G.O.A.; Ferro Carril Gran Oeste Argentino; the Argentine Great Western Railway Company]
Publication details: 
Stamped 'ROBERT STEPHENSON & CO. LTD. | LOCOMOTIVE WORKS | 29 APR. 1907| DARLINGTON'.
£185.00

An attractive item, on one side of a piece of cloth roughly 57 x 94 cm. Good: lightly aged and creased. Side section of the engine roughly 21 x 61 cm, with dimensions in grey, outlines and other lines in purple, one block in pink and red, and a few small parts in blue. Also a cross-section from the front, of the left side of the train only, roughly 22 x 9.5 cm. Beneath the heading 'F.C.G.O.A. are six lines of neatly-written text, the first reading 'Trocha de. 1676<?> Gauge.

Coloured lithographic dioramic print, captioned 'Dawson's Diorama No. 4. The British Queen, a first rate Steem [sic] Ship, which on holding it up to the light changes to her Magesty [sic] Queen Victoria, attired in her Robes of State.'

Author: 
T. Dawson, London printseller [Queen Victoria; SS British Queen; diorama; dioramic print; optical illusion; naval and maritime]
Publication details: 
Undated, but between 1839 and 1844. 'London: Published by T. Dawson, 29, Bedeord [sic, for 'Bedford'] St. Covent Garden.'
£300.00

Dimensions of print roughly 13 x 17.5 cm. On original grey paper windowpane mount (22 x 28.5 cm). Engraved label (3 x 12.5 cm) beneath the print, with small remarque-style illustrations of the ship and the queen. The print itself is good, although aged and a little worn and spotted; the spotting and aging to the margins and mount is a little heavier. Attractive and unusual item, the image changing when held up to the light. The ship is depicted sailing on choppy seas, and the young queen seated with drapery around her on a verandah with stone balustrades and a landscape behind. Scarce.

Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed (all three 'A. W. Pimm') on 'loco matters' to King.

Author: 
Arthur Watson Pimm [A. W. Pimm] (b.1881), locomotive engineer and inventor [H. G. King of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers; Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd; Vickers; LNER; LMS Railways]
Publication details: 
Autograph Letters: 14 October and 18 December 1942. Typed Letter: 4 November 1942. All three from 5 Oakhill Road, Orpington, Kent.
£450.00

Text of all three letters clear and entire. A well-written and well-informed correspondence relating to 'locomotive matters'. Letter One (14 October 1942): Manuscript. Foolscap, 4 pp. Good, on aged high-acidity paper. 'Knowing, and to some extent, at least, sharing' King's 'interest in loco matters', Pimm informs him that the Ministry of Supply 'have ordered 360 L.M.S. mixed traffics generally like the 227 that AW's [Armstrong Whitworth] bill as their last order'.

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, in French, to the Paris bookseller Paul Daffis.

Author: 
Eugène Flachat (1802-1873), French civil engineer who worked on the first French passenger railway (Paris-Le Pecq, 1837), on the Paris-Rouen line and the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, 1851 [steam engines]
Publication details: 
26/02/59
£85.00

12mo: 1 p. Fifteen lines of text. Good, on aged and lightly-creased paper. Minor foxing. Difficult hand. Begins 'Je voudrais avoir cette année la collection des Documents parlementaire qui seront distribué au corps legislatif. | Autrefois j'étais abonné pour une petite somme [...]'.

Secretarial note in French, signed by Flachat.

Author: 
Eugène Flachat (1802-1873), French civil engineer who worked on the first French passenger railway (Paris-Le Pecq, 1837), on the Paris-Rouen line and the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, 1851 [steam engines]
Publication details: 
23 February 1856; Paris.
£56.00

12mo: 1 p. Good, on lightly creased paper. Reads 'Je remets à Mr Pulin, porteur de la présente, la lettre de Mr Savoye pour l'aider à retirer les exemplaires des médailles et les diplômes donnés à MM les Membres du Jury.' Presumably relating to the awarding of prizes at an industrial exhibition.

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.

Autograph Note Signed to 'Mr. Hearson'.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Robert Upcott
Publication details: 
13 March 1913; on letterhead '227, ST. JAMES' COURT, | BUCKINGHAM GATE, S.W.'
£26.00

Chairman of the Board of Indian Railways (fl. 1916). One page, 12mo. In very good condition, with one rough edge caused by removal from mount. 'It is my intention to be present at the dinner of Devonians in London on 3 May'. Signed 'F. R. Upcott'.

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