1836 · London:
by BABBAGE, Charles (1792-1871).
London:: Printed for Baldwin and Cradock. . ., 1836., 1836. 296 x 240 mm. Thick 4to. 1-84 pp. [Entire volume: viii, 834 pp.] Tables, index, 87 engraved steel plates; foxed or stained throughout. Original dark green cloth, printed paper spine label; label lightly chipped, a few minor cover scratches and stains, inner hinges carefully reinforced, neat repair to outer hinge. Partially unopened. Very good copy. RARE. "From Vol. VII and VIII of the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana which was published from the 1820s to the 1840s. According to Babbage's own account and those of his most recent biographer and bibliographer, the material by Babbage first appeared in a volume of the Encyclopaedia published in 1829. Babbage's essay served as the introduction to Barlow's copiously illustrated survey of British manufacturing and was the precursor of his 1832 classic on the economy of the machine. While both Hyman and Van Sinderen refer to the 1829 publication, neither refer to this 1836 separate edition, which is very rare." Norman 28:366. Peter Barlow, mathematician, physicist, and optician, was self-trained, but rose to recognition in the highest levels of British scientific circles. He is known for his Essay on the strength of timber and other materials (1817, 6th ed., 1867), An elementary investigation of the theory of numbers (1811, his first work), and A new mathematical and philosophical dictionary (1814). His contributions to the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana include articles on Geometry, Theory of numbers, Mechanics, Hydrodynamics, Pneumatics, Optics, Astronomy, Magnetism, and Electro-magnetism, as well as this large volume on Manufactures. Hyman, Charles Babbage, p. 105. See: Zeitlinger 1848; DNB, I, pp. 776-779 (Babbage); 1142-1144 (Barlow); DSB, I, pp. 354-357 (Babbage); pp. 459-460 (Barlow); Van Sinderen, The Printed Papers of Charles Babbage, 1980. See: Origins of Cyberspace 53 and 54. FULL TITLE: "On the general principles which regulate the application of machinery to manufactures and the mechanical arts." In: BARLOW, Peter (1776-1862). A treatise on the manufactures and machinery of Great Britain, by Peter Barlow. To which is prefixed, an introductory view of the principles of manufactures by Charles Babbage. Forming a portion of the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana.
(Inventory #: SS13501)