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Hawkshaw, John, Brunel, [Isambard Kingdom], Wood, George, and others.
[Reports to the Directors of the Great Western Railway Company]. Introductory Letter of Nicholas Wood, Esq. [bound with] Report of John Hawkshaw, Esq. [and] Report of I. K. Brunel, Esq. [and] Report of Nicholas Wood, Esq. [and] Report of I.K. Brunel, Esq.
Publisher: [J. Bigg and Son (printer)], [Westminster];
Date of Publication: 1838
Stock Code: 12984
Five tracts in one volume. Dropped-head titles. Octavo, variously pp., 17, 31, 34, 82, 22. Pebbled racing-green cloth, title gilt to red leather book label to spine. Ownership inscription of ‘H. T. Rendell, 1900’ to front free paste-down. Light water damage to upper board, and to margin of first 4 leaves, corners bumped, spine-tips wearing. Very occasional light and scattered foxing internally. Overall, a very good copy. A series of reports by eminent railway engineers, on the opening of the Great Western Railway, which first ran trains in 1838. The parts within discuss, in some depth, Brunel’s choice to use broad gauge rails, and include tables reporting on the performance of different locomotives, the cost of running trains, and both the financial and engineering considerations made in the design and construction of the GWR. Within the reports, the authors reproduce correspondence from other railway engineers, including George Smith and Robert Stephenson. The former owner of this copy, H. T. Rendell was himself a locomotive engineer for the Great Western Railway (Institute of Mechanical Engineers: IME/7/32/1/196). A comprehensive and fascinating record of the engineering challenges behind the establishment of one of England’s great railway lines. £300.00