[STUART, ROBERT]. A Descriptive History of the Steam Engine. London: John Knight and Henry Lacey, MDCCCXXIV. [1824].
First edition. Leather-bound. Hardcover. Tall octavo (235 x 140 mm.), pp. vi, [2], 228. Illustrated with a frontispiece, vignette and 48 engravings of engines from throughout history. Rebound in half calf, marbled boards, rough cut page edges, new endpapers. Footnotes. A chronological list of patents and an index to rear, both in double columns. Printed by S. and R. Bentley. Condition: GOOD to VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding tight and secure, the hinges intact, some light staining to covers. Contents with some light toning, couple of leaves creased but overall very tidy. Without previous ownership markings. A nicely rebound copy.
Notes: Rare first edition of this comprehensive study charting the history of the steam engine, from its roots in Ancient Greece, to the sophistication it had by the time it reached nineteenth century England. Written during the height of the Industrial Revolution, when the use of steam power was dramatically transforming the nature of industry, this book attempted the first comprehensive study of the inventors responsible for this innovation. Beginning with the first recorded use of steam power by Greek mechanic Hero, the author uses clear diagrams to explain the practical workings of the steam engines that were created, covering inventions by Savery, Papin, and Newcomen, up to the 'grand improvements' made by James Watt during the eighteenth century, by which point the engines were powering all manner of factory machinery.
