TREDGOLD, Thomas; T[imothy] Bramah

The Principles of Warming and Ventilating Public Buildings, Dwelling-Houses, Manufactories, Hospitals, Hot-Houses, Conservatories, &c. And of Constructing Fire-places, Boilers, Steam-Apparatus, Grates, and Drying-Rooms; with Remarks on the Nature of Heat and Light

London: M. Taylor, 1836. First Thus. Third edition, with the first appearance of Bramah's Appendix. Octavo (22.5cm). In half brown calf, rebacked in tan calf, with marbled paper over boards, titled in gold on black leather spine label; modern endpapers; xvi, 347pp; 12 engraved plates, complete, with plate 9 bound upside-down. Ex-library, with stamps from the Durham Mechanics' Institute to plate versos. A square, tight copy, rubbed at edges, with minor marginal dirt, offsetting from plates, and dampstaining to rear endpapers: Good or better.

This title was first published in 1824. The 1836 edition was the first with an essay by Timothy Bramah on heating systems that circulated hot liquid water (as opposed to Tredgold's favored steam) and three accompanying plates.

Thomas Tredgold (1788-1829) was a self-taught engineer and widely read technical author who published on timber and carpentry, cast iron, railroads and carriages, steam engines, and steam ships. Several of his works became "the standard textbooks of English engineers" (ODNB). He may be best remembered for his definition of engineering, used by the Institute of Civil Engineers in its 1828 application for a royal charter: "the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man" (Miller, "The Classics of Engineering Literature," College English 19:2, 1957). LOWNDES 2709.

Price: $225.00

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