REMARKS ON THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF ROAD MAKING

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1823. Seventh Edition. 237 x 145. (9 3/8 x 5 3/4"). 3 p.l., vii, [1], viii, [1], 6-236 pp.
Publisher's blue paper boards and brown paper backstrip, original printed paper label, EDGES UNTRIMMED AND MOSTLY UNOPENED. A Large Paper Copy. Just the faintest evidence of foxing at very beginning and very end, corners with slight wear (as always), superficial chafing to covers, but AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE COPY, the binding remarkably clean and with no significant signs of use, and the wide-margined text unusually fresh and nearly as white as snow.

In its original boards, untrimmed, and partly unopened, this is a wonderful contemporary copy of an important later edition of the magnum opus of a man whose name came to be synonymous with road improvement. DNB tells us that Scottish-born John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836) was "the first systematic builder and administrator of roads in Britain since Roman times," and his impact was so great that his name lives on to the present day in connection with paved surfaces. The use of "macadam" or "macadamized" to mean a good road surface began in the 1820s, and continued through the invention of the automobile, when dusty roads began to be improved with tar. At first, "tar" was combined with "macadam," producing the term "tarmacadam" when referring to these improved roads; eventually, this became shortened to "tarmac," which still is broadly understood to refer to road surfaces (and more specifically to airport runways). Our author first published "Remarks on the Present System of Road Making" in 1816 to deliver his suggestions for an improved paving method, following his extensive survey of the roads of Britain. His system--in which roads were built with a cambered surface for drainage, using layers of consistent sizes of stones and gravel--soon caught on both within Britain and abroad. The present seventh edition features a variety of new material, much of which deals with McAdam's efforts to encourage legislation for improving roads; this includes a new preface and advertisement, as well as the "Minutes of Evidence" given by witnesses regarding turnpike improvement from March to May 1819 and the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on McAdam's system from June, 1823. As evidenced by its appearance in multiple printings, McAdam's "Remarks" was a widely used book, but our remarkably well-preserved copy in its publisher's boards--obviously and decidedly--was not..