(Torpedo Warfare.) Submarine Warfare; Fixed Mines and Torpedos. The Lay Moveable Torpedo: Its Superiority Over All Other Implements of Submarine Warfare.
Book. Np, nd [?Buffalo: 1867?] 4to, original illustrated wrappers. Pp. 14; 4 plates. Printed slip "W. W. Rowley, Buffalo, NY" tipped in at rear. Minor wear, a very good copy. Rare promotional pamphlet on the locomotive torpedo invented in 1867 by Col. John Louis Lay, a specialist in under-water warfare who had already invented a torpedo used with some success in the Civil War. The US Navy purchased only two of Lay's torpedos, the Russian and Turkish governements considerably more. Lay ultimately lost his fortune and died homeless in Bellevue. The DAB gives the authorship of this pamphlet to Lay himself. OCLC records only the NYPL copy; another incomplete entry records a similar or same item at LOC. (Inventory #: 526)