An Essay on the Usefulness of Chemistry and its Application to the Various Occasions of Life - BOUND WITH - A Practical Essay on a Cement and Artificial Stone ....

London: J Murray / T Cadell, 1784 & 1775. First Edition in English / Second Edition of Loriot.. Full contemporary calf.. Very good internally; binding dry with split joints.. 8vo, , I – [4], [1] – 163, [1 – errata]; II – 55 pp.

This is the English translation of both essays. The Bergman is the introductory lectures on applied chemistry. This is a re-issue of the first edition in 1783 with a change of date and a cancel for the p. 15. Jeremy Bentham helped with the translation (based on the first German printing). The Loriot is his announcement of having 'rediscovered' the secret of the Romans for making mortar. He describes the method and gives several recipes - rapidly copied and adapted by the English - and variations including the production of a waterproof version. Eileen Harris points out that as this publication coincided with the passing of the London Building Act of 1774 and as Loriot’s cement was not patented and moreover was fully explained in his book, it is not surprising that an English edition was promptly published in London and that it quickly sold out (British architectural books and writers, p. 301). A popular book, there were six issues in English by 1777 The method was used by Smeaton, among others, during the construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse. Cole # 99; DSB II, 4 - 8 / See Davey, ... Materials ...., p. 118; O'Neal, Jefferson, #66 (later printing) - with a note; Kirby & Laurson, Early Modern Years of Civil Engineering for extensive citations to the Loriot. OCLC locates many electronic copies but actual hard copies are uncommon.