R. Stuart - Histoire Descriptive de la Machine à Vapeur - 1827

STUART (Robert) – Descriptive History of the Steam Engine, translated from English. Preceded by an introduction outlining the theory of steam; followed by the description of the improvements made in France, and the general considerations on the use of these machines.

In Paris, at the Scientific and Industrial Library, Malher and Company, 1827.

Valuable original edition of the French translation of this seminal work, published in the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Written under the pseudonym of Robert Stuart by the Scottish civil engineer Robert Meikleham, this treatise remains one of the most rigorous and complete histories of the genesis and technical evolution of steam engines.

The work traces with great clarity the early mechanical attempts from Antiquity (Heron of Alexandria’s machine) to the major innovations of the early nineteenth century, passing through the fundamental works of Denis Papin, Thomas Savery, Thomas Newcomen and the indispensable James Watt. The tables and in-text technical data (notably on the elastic force of steam and the dimensions of the cylinders) testify to the scientific accuracy of the work.

This edition is particularly sought after for its illustration, here complete with its six large folding plates hors-texte (marked Pl. 1 to Pl. 6). Engraved with surgical precision, they total dozens of figures detailing the mechanisms, pistons, boilers, gears and condensation systems of the various inventors cited.

Period binding in half-leather. Boards covered with blue-dark marbled paper. Marbled endpapers.

Format: 18.5 x 11 cm.

Pagination: 379 pp. (complete with the six folding plates).