AUTHOR’S CORRECTED COPY: Lives of the Engineers: Harbours, Lighthouses, Bridges: Smeaton and Rennie

Smiles’ heavily corrected copy of his classic account of John Smeaton and John Rennie’s ‘Harbours, Lighthouse, Bridges’ which formed Volume II of his Lives of the Engineers. First published in 1862, this copy shows the numerous changes required for the expanded and revised edition of 1874. Sent to Smiles in parts and without the preliminary material, each section of this volume has the rubber-stamp of the printers: ‘William Clowes and Sons of Stamford Street’ to the head margin with the addition of 'Sent out' and dates between 18 July and 17 August 1874. A small slip is also present on most of each section, stating that 'If no revise be required of this proof, please to write on it "PRESS" and return it.' In fact Smiles has made hundreds of manuscript ink corrections, additions and amendments throughout, including new running-heads from page 309, page layout and alterations to wording and statistics.

This volume centres on the life and work of the canal, harbour and lighthouse designer John Smeaton, and John Rennie the Scottish designer of bridges, canals, docks and warehouses with particularly interesting material on lighthouse design. A classic account of Victorian engineering success.

DESCRIPTION: Binder’s contemporary dark green pebble-grain cloth, backstrip lettered and banded in gilt; speckled edges. pp-2-384. There are 4 full-page, and 73 smaller wood-engravings in the text plus an awful lot of annotation.

Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was born in Scotland, trained at Edinburgh University as a doctor, worked as an editor and journalist in Leeds where he got to know John Smeaton, before writing a series of vastly successful books, notably Self-help.