A Treatise on Navigation By Steam Comprising A History of the Steam Engine, And An Essay Towards A System of The Naval Tactics Peculiar To Steam Navigation, As Applicable Both to Commerce and Maritime Warfare; Including A Comparison of Its Advantages As Related To Other Systems In The Circumstances of Speed, Safety, and Economy, But More Particularly in that of the National Defence. With Plates And Engravings
by Ross, Captain John (K.S.R.N)
- Used
- Very Good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
London, London, United Kingdom
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About This Item
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1828 FIRST EDITION. xxiii, 182 pages, 1, 68 pages (Appendix), frontispiece aquatint plate (an illustration of an armoured paddle-steamer "James Watt, Steam Packet, Propelling against a storm."). 31 text figures including engraved full-page plate. List of authors on the subject of steam: p. 174. Errata inserted after page xxiii. Somewhat foxed on frontispiece and tissue guard, otherwise exceptionally clean. Marbled edges and marbled endpapers. 23 x 28 cm. 4to. Contemporary calf bound by Henington, Ingram Court, Fenchurch St. [London] with original rose binder's label on front paste-down endpaper. Boards with gilt hand-tooled borders (light wear to spine and edges). Spine with black lettering-piece and with gilt hand-tooled decoration (rebacked sympathetically). Provenance: neat ownership inscription in ink of R.T. Creighton, dated April 1844 on title page. Also gift inscription from Lady Rivett-Carnac, 1st April 1844 (James Rivett-Carnac had distinguished career in the military, a Director/Chairman of the East India Company and Baronet in 1836. Elected Member of Parliament for Sandwich, and Governor of the Bombay Presidency in 1839). Most important association with Bert Plimer (1929-2009). Plimer (Franklin Search bookplate laid in & letters pencilled on the endpaper), born in North Berwick, Scotland. At sixteen he joined the British Army, moved to Ottawa in the 1950s, where as a photojournalist and freelance camera man and film maker, he founded Plimer Productions Limited. Bert's interest in the Arctic, particularly the NorthWest Passage began about 1975 & led to avid research, especially on the search for Franklin. Bert looked for the finest copy available & created the greatest collection of rare books on the subject. Captain John Ross (1777-1856), is the first naval officer to write about steam engines. His Treatise on Navigation, published the year before he sailed on his second voyage in search of the Northwest Passage, was much in advance of its time, and forerunner of many similar works.The natural conservatism of sailors, combined with the unreliability of early engines, had created a great prejudice against steam in the Royal Navy.In this work, Ross attempts to show the merits of the use of steam engines. Sir John Ross made two attempts between 1818 and 1833 to find the North West Passage and, like so many others, failed. He was knighted anyway. He also made one of the many attempts to find the missing Franklin expedition later. Like all early attempts to find Franklin, this was unsuccessful too. [N]o vessel, explained John Ross, a captain in the Royal Navy, can ever be constructed to sail in direct opposition to the wind. A steamer could run straight into any wind without drifting off course. Impelled by a source of energy utterly extraneous to local weather conditions, it went wherever its commander decreed. In this book, Ross suggested that stokers were so essential to the smooth running of the ship's engines he advocated that they should be: "Employed solely on their duties in the boiler room and are to be relieved every two hours and awarded a double quantity of beer or other beverage while so employed". Ross recommended stokers be regularly bred for their calling, arguing that it was a mistake to believe that ordinary seamen were able to tend the fire as well as a qualified stoker. Moreover, he argued that by keeping a better fire, a stoker would be able to apply a more steady heat on the boiler, which would result in considerable fuel savings. Ross was also influential in recommending the minimum levels of manning for steam vessels by stipulating that every steam-fitted ship would require one head-engineer, one assistant engineer, and one head foreman. With ships fitted with engines rated up to forty-horsepower, Ross calculated that three stokers would be sufficient, with an extra stoker added to the complement for every additional twenty-horsepower delivered. Scarce edition in commerce.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Camden Lock Books, ABA, IOBA. (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5156
- Title
- A Treatise on Navigation By Steam Comprising A History of the Steam Engine, And An Essay Towards A System of The Naval Tactics Peculiar To Steam Navigation, As Applicable Both to Commerce and Maritime Warfare; Including A Comparison of Its Advantages As Related To Other Systems In The Circumstances of Speed, Safety, and Economy, But More Particularly in that of the National Defence. With Plates And Engravings
- Author
- Ross, Captain John (K.S.R.N)
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Publisher
- London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green
- Date Published
- 1828
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Camden Lock Books, ABA, IOBA.
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About the Seller
Camden Lock Books, ABA, IOBA.
Biblio member since 2019
London, London
About Camden Lock Books, ABA, IOBA.
My online bookselling is Camden Lock books. I own Camden Lock Books & list books that are uncommon, in demand and may be hard to find.
My book expertise came with four years as Chairman of London P.B.F.A. , many more years of exhibiting at monthly London Rare Book Fairs & owning my own bookshops continuously since 1984.
Every book here was valued by the person who first bought it and will be just as prized by the person who buys it now from my shopping website.
I am an accredited professional & a full member of the ABA, ILAB and the IOBA, "Setting the standard. The books you want...from booksellers you can trust".
You can meet me on my stand at Firsts 2024, London's Rare Book Fair, at the Saatchi Gallery, London SW3 4RY, 16-19 May 2024.
I also am joint owner of Burley Fisher Books , an independent bookshop offering new and secondhand books.
My book expertise came with four years as Chairman of London P.B.F.A. , many more years of exhibiting at monthly London Rare Book Fairs & owning my own bookshops continuously since 1984.
Every book here was valued by the person who first bought it and will be just as prized by the person who buys it now from my shopping website.
I am an accredited professional & a full member of the ABA, ILAB and the IOBA, "Setting the standard. The books you want...from booksellers you can trust".
You can meet me on my stand at Firsts 2024, London's Rare Book Fair, at the Saatchi Gallery, London SW3 4RY, 16-19 May 2024.
I also am joint owner of Burley Fisher Books , an independent bookshop offering new and secondhand books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Foxed
- Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Errata
- Errata: aka Errata Slip A piece of paper either laid in to the book correcting errors found in the printed text after being...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Paste-down
- The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an...