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Blackwell, J Kenyon & Phillips, John
Report: Ventilation of Mines [with] Report on the Ventilaltion of Mines and Collieries.
Publisher: William Clowes and Sons for HMSO, London;
Date of Publication: 1850
Stock Code: 5804
Foolscap, pp 27, [1], 64. 18 plates of which 5 hand coloured and 7 folding, plus figures and tables in text. Blackwell’s large Ventilation diagram measures approx 123 cm x 77 cm. Modern quarter brown polished calf with gilt titles and ruling and decoration in blind to spine; marbed paper-covered boards. Binding fine. Contents toned and slightly soiled, mainly to edge, with several Law Society stamps throughout. Several leaves nicked and creased to edge; Blackwell’s diagram split without loss to some folds. British parliamentary reports on the mid-nineteenth century condition of the mines throughout England with particular reference to those of Northumberland and Durham and the Yorkshire/Derbyshire coalfield. By 1850 legislation had been passed prohibiting underground work by women, girls and boys under 10 years of age, but many fatalities and accidents still occurred. The 1850 Coal Mines Inspection Act appointed mine inspectors reporting to the Home Office, and these reports recommend the better education of miners and the provision of better ventilation to reduce the likelihood of explosions caused by flammable gases. Legislation and reports such as these were vital in making collieries a less dangerous working environment. Scarce. Copac locates just three copies of the former and four of the latter in UK libraries; at the BL, Institute of Civil Engineers and the National Coal Mining Museum for England. £225.00