‎Technology‎

‎"RUE, WARREN DE LA. - SOLAR PROMINENCES DISCOVERED.‎

‎The Bakerian Lecture. - On Some Total Solar Eclipse of July 18th, 1860, observed at Rivabellosa, near Miranda de Ebro, in Spain. Received January 30,- Read April 10, 1862.‎

‎(London, Taylor and Francis, 1862). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1862. Vol. 152 - Part II. Pp. 333-416, textillustrations (his photoheliograph), scale of colours and 13 plates. Plates somewhat soiled, but the 6 engraved plates, showing the prominences only the margins affcted by the soiling. These facsimiles (copies of touched photographs) probably the first of their kinds. Text clean.‎

‎First appearance of pioneer-paper in astronomical photography, where he took wet-plate photographs of the moon-blocked sun during a total solar eclipse, and from them discovered solar prominences. - This was the first solar eclipse to be photographed, using the Kew Photoheliograph, a purpose-built combined camera and telescope designed by de la Rue and built in 1857 by Andrew Ross. De la Rue, Warren 1815-89, British scientist and inventor. Especially noted as an astronomer, he was a pioneer in celestial photography. He adapted the wet-plate process to lunar photography and invented (1858) for Kew Observatory a photoheliograph, the first device to give good solar pictures. His photographs of a solar eclipse in 1860 demonstrated that prominences observed at the sun's edge are of solar origin. De la Rue is known also for his research in chemistry, solar physics, and electrical discharge through gases.In 1860 De la Rue took the photoheliograph to Spain for the purpose of photographing the total solar eclipse which occurred on 18 July of that year. This expedition formed the subject of the Bakerian Lecture - the paper offered -. The photographs obtained on that occasion proved beyond doubt the solar character of the prominences or red flames, seen around the limb of the moon during a solar eclipse. In 1873 De la Rue gave up active work in astronomy, and presented most of his astronomical instruments to the university observatory, Oxford. Subsequently, in the year 1887, he provided the same observatory with a 13-inch refractor to enable it to take part in the International Photographic Survey of the Heavens.‎

Bookseller reference : 42379

‎"RUNG, G.‎

‎Selvregistrerende meteorologiske Instrumenter, construerede af G. Rung.‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, Bianco Luno, 1885. 4to. Orig. hshirtbd. Stempel på titelbladet. Særtryk af ""Videnskabernes selskabs Skrifter"". 24 pp., tekstillustrationer, 1 foldetavle. Spredte brunpletter. Med dedikation til V. Hoskjær på forpermen.‎

‎Originaltrykket. For denne afhandling modtog Rung sølvmedalje fra Videnskabernes Selskab.‎

Bookseller reference : 52236

‎"RÉAUMUR, (RENÉ-ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE).‎

‎Decouverte D'une nouvelle Teinture de Pourpre, & diverses experiences pour la comparer avec celle que les anciens tiroient de quelques especes de Coquillages que nous trouvons sur nos Costes de l'Ocean.‎

‎(Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1714). 4to. Without wrappers. Extracted from ""Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences. Année 1711"". Pp. 168-199 and 1 folded engraved plate‎

‎First printing of a famous paper in which Réaumur ""rediscovered the secret of making the purple dye of the ancient Romans from the substance produced by a particular species of mollusk.""(DSB XI, p. 331).""Réamur was among the greatest naturalists of his or any age. In the breadth and range of his researches, in the patient detail of his observations, and in the brilliant ingenuity of his experiments, it would be difficult to name his equal. Thomas Henry Huxley has compared him favorably with Darwin.""(DSB XI, p. 331).‎

Bookseller reference : 44402

‎"SAINT-AUBAN, ANTOINE BARATIER MARQUIS de.).‎

‎Discussion sur les Effets des Pièces de Canon de differentes Longueurs. Collection Extraits des Journaux des Savans, des Sciences & Beaux-Arts, Encyclopédique, &c. &c., sur les discussions relatives à l'ancienne & à la nouvelle Artillerie.‎

‎(No Place, no date, Paris ? ca. 1778). Modest recent hcloth. Uncut. Stamps on halftitle and verso of. 65,86 pp. Second part ""Supplement au Journal des Sciences & les Beaux - Arts"" dated 15 Mai 1778. A few brownspots, wide-margined.‎

Bookseller reference : 45733

‎"SAINTE-CLAIRE DEVILLE, H. - OBTAINING PURE ALUMINIUM.‎

‎De l'Aluminium et de ses combinaisons chimique.‎

‎(Paris, Mallet-Bachelier), 1854 4to. No wrappers. In: ""Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences"", Tome 38, No 6. Pp. (237-) 292. (Entire issue offered). Deville's paper: pp. 279-281.‎

‎First printing of the paper in which Sainte-Claire deville reveiled his process for the production of pure aluminium by creating the first crystalline silicon and perfecting the electrolytic process for obtaining metallic aluminium from sodium aluminium chloride.""He worked out a process for producing pure aluminum by reducing its salts with sodium. Deville’s methods made both metals readily available and drastically reduced their cost, but he himself did not take much part in their later industrial development. He used the sodium obtained by his method for the preparation of such elements as silicon, boron, and titanium.""(DSB).Parkinson ""Breakthroughs"" 1854 C.‎

Bookseller reference : 49132

‎"SALMOIRAGHI, ANGELO.‎

‎Notice sur un Telemetre destine au Service de L'Artillerie pour la Defense des Cotes. - [WITH AUTHOR*S DEDICATION TO THE DANISH MINISTER OF WAR]‎

‎Milan, Chez L'Auteur, 1881. 8vo. In ccontemporary half cloth with gilt lettering to top of front board. Paper-label pasted on to lower part of spine. Two small paper-labels pasted on to lower part of front free end-paper. Two stamps to title-page. With author's presentation-inscription to the Danish Minister of War: ""A' Son Excellence / Le Ministre de la Guerre / de C M Roi / Hommage de l'Auteur"". Very light miscoloured to lower margin, otherwise a fine copy. 17 pp. + 1 folded plate.‎

‎Rare first edition of Salmoiraghi's work on Rangefinders (Télémétre). Angelo Salmoiraghi was a student of Ignaz Peter Paul Porro (1801-75) who in the 1860s in Turin opened the ""Officina Filotecnica"" (workshop and school of optics, instrument building and fine mechanics). Salmoiraghi bought his teacher's Milan-based ""Società Filotechnica"" and renamed it to ""Filotecnica Salmoiraghi"". The company still exists today under the name of ""Salmoiraghi & Viganò"".‎

Bookseller reference : 59826

‎"SAY, HORACE. - THE INVENTION OF THE STEREOMETER (GAS PYCHNOMETER).‎

‎Description d'un Instrument propre à measurer le volume des corps, sans les plonger dans aucun liquide.‎

‎(Paris, Chez Fuchs, Guillaume, An VI (1797)). Without wrappers. In: ""Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago."" , tome 23, Cahier 1. Pp. 1-112 (entire issue offered). Say's paper: pp. 1-27 a. 1 folded plate depicting the stereometer.‎

‎"SCHNEIDER & CIE - SCHNEIDER-CREUSOT.‎

‎Schneider & Cie Constructeurs au Creusot. Matériel D'Artillerie.‎

‎No Place, No Printer, 1894. 4to. Orig. hcalf, raised bands and gilt lettering. Clothcovers with gilt lettering. Upper cover with a bit of foxing. (6) pp. and 34 photographic plates (13 double-page), reproduced in fine heliogravure, each with a printed leaf with details. The first plate is double-page ""Vue Génerale des Usines du Creusot"". Fine and clean.‎

‎"SHANNON, C. E. (+) R. G. GALLAGER (+) E. R. BERLEKAMP.‎

‎Lower Bounds to Error Probability for Coding on Discrete Memoryless Channels. II.‎

‎New York, Academic Press Inc, 1967. 8vo. In the original orange printed wrappers. One library stamp and two library labels pasted on to front wrapper. A white label stating the issue's name and date pasted on to back wrapper. Internally very fine and clean. Pp. 522-52. [Entire issue: 447-552 + 6 pages with commercials].‎

‎First printing of Shannon's paper on lower bounds to error probability. This was his ""final effort to establish tight upper and lower bounds on error probability for the DMC. Earlier, Robert Fano [22] had discovered, but not completely proved, the sphere-packing lower bound on error probability. In [20], [21], the sphere-packing bound was proven rigorously, and another lower bound on error probability was established which was stronger at low data rates. The proof of the sphere-packing bound given here was quite complicated"" it was later proven in a simpler way."" (Gallager, Claude E. Shannon: A Retrospective on His Life, Work, and Impact, 2001, Pp. 2691-2).""Claude E. Shannon invented information theory and provided the concepts, insights, and mathematical formulations that now form the basis for modern communication technology. In a surprisingly large number of ways, he enabled the information age.""(Ibid.).The issue contain the following papers:Gold, E. Mark, Language Identification in the Limit, Pp. 447-474.Cohen, Joel M, The Equivalence of Two Concepts of Categorical Grammar, Pp. 475-484.Mulholland, R. G., Aravind K. Joshi, J. T. Chu. Optimal Decision Functions for Two Noise States, Pp. 485-498.Harary, Frank, Edgar M. Palmer. Enumeration of Finite Automata, Pp. 499-508.Kramer, Anthony J. Use of Orthogonal Signaling in Sequential Decision Feedback. Pp. 509-521.‎

Bookseller reference : 44958

‎"SHANNON, C.E.‎

‎Probability Error for Optimal Codes in a Gaussian Channel.‎

‎(New York), American Telephone and Telegraph Compagny, 1959. 8vo. In the original blue printed wrappers. In ""The Bell System Technical Journal"", Volume 38, Number 3, pp. Light miscolouring to spine, otherwise a very fine, clean and fresh copy. Pp. 611-656. [Entire volume: Pp. 611-907].‎

‎First printing of Shannon's important 1959-paper in which he showed that an optimal code is built by uniformly placing codewords on an n-dimensional sphere. An upper and a lower bound for the word error rate performance Pew of such a spherical code have been established by Shannon on anAWGN channel for finite n.""A study is made of coding and decoding systems for a continous channel with an additive gaussian noise and subject to an average power limitation at the transmitter. Upper and lower bounds are found for the error probability in decoding with optimal codes and decoding systems. These bounds are close together for signaling rates near channel capacity and also for signaling rates near zero, but diverge in between. Curves exhibiting these bounds are given."" (Shannon p. 611).Hook & Norman: 898.‎

Bookseller reference : 47541

‎"SIEDENTOPF, H. und R. (RICHARD) ZSIGMONDY. - THE INVENTION OF THE ULTRAMICROSCOPE.‎

‎Ueber Sichtbarmachung und Grössenbestimmung ultramikroskopischer Teilchen, mit besondrer Anwendung auf Goldrubingläser.‎

‎(Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1903). Without wrappers.. In ""Annalen der Physik. Vierte Folge. Bd. 10. No 1. (Entire issue offred). With halftitle to vol. 10. 224 pp. and 1 folded plate. Seidentopf & Zsigmondy's paper: pp. 1-39 a. textillustrations. The issue punched in inner margin after cords. 3 small stamps in the text.‎

‎First printing of the paper in which Zsigmondy describes his invention of the Ultramicroscope, by which is became possible to see the Brownian movements of molecules. His microscope is still of great importence in colloid studies, but in most fields where great magnification is required, it has been outdistanced by the electron microscope.""Zsigmondy was a figure of paramount importance on colloid chemistry during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1925, for invention of the ultramicroscope and his work on colloids was the first time this fledgling science had been so honored. In 1926 work by J. B. Perrin and Theodor Svedberg that followed directly from Zsigmondy’s achievement was recognized by the Nobel Prizes in physics and in chemistry, respectively. No Nobel Prize since then has been awarded for work solely in colloid chemistry. (DSB).The offered issue contains another importent paper by MAX ABRAHAM ""Prinzipien der Dynamik des Elektrons. Pp. 105-179. In 1902 Abraham said ""It now becomes necessary to base the dynamics of the electrons from the outset on electromagnetic considerations"" In 1903 (the paper offered) he published his main detailed article on the rigid electron""(Pais in Subtle is the ord"" pp. 157 ff.""The ultramicroscope is form of microscope that reveals the presence of particles that cannot be seen with a normal optical microscope. Colloidal particles, smoke particles, etc., are suspended in a liquid or gas in a cell with a black background and illuminated by an intense cone of light that enters the cell from the side and has its apex in the field of view. The particles then produce diffraction-ring systems, appearing as bright specks on the dark background.‎

Bookseller reference : 44237

‎"SIEMENS, WILLIAM.‎

‎On the Application of the Dynamo-Electric Current to the Fusion of Refractory Materials in Considerable Quantities.‎

‎London, WM. Clowes and Sons, 1881. 8vo. In the original blue printed wrappers. Offprint from ""The Journal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers"" Read June 3, 1880. Wrapper loose, otherwise a fine copy. 8 pp. + a folded plate. Two contemporary photos of an engine laid in.‎

‎Offprint issue of Siemens's paper on the application of his Dynamo-Electric machine.‎

Bookseller reference : 48491

‎"SIRÉN, OSVALD.‎

‎Leonardo da Vincis Studier rörande Flygproblemet.‎

‎Stockholm, Hæggström, 1910. 8vo. Orig. bogtrykt omslag. No. 24 af 150 eksemplarer udgivet som særtryk af ""Nordisk Tidsskrift"" 22 pp. Illustreret.‎

Bookseller reference : 33346

‎"SOCIETE ""VIN SERVICE"""‎

‎Divisione Birra‎

‎CHEZ L'AUTEUR. Non daté. In-4. Broché. Bon état, Couv. fraîche, Dos satisfaisant, Intérieur frais. 57 pages illustrées en noir et blanc et en couleurs dans le texte et hors-texte. Textes en anglais, français, italien et allemand.. . . . Classification Dewey : 663-Technologie des boissons‎

‎Catalogue d'agitateurs, de banc-chariot, de charbonnateur, de lampes, de machines à infuster, de pompe vin-sirop ... Classification Dewey : 663-Technologie des boissons‎

Bookseller reference : RO80051498

‎"SOETBEER, ADOLF.‎

‎Edelmetall-Produktion und Wertverhältniss zwischen Gold und Silber seit der Entdeckung Amerika's bis zur Gegenwart.‎

‎Gotha, Julius Perthes, 1879. 4to. Orig. printed wrappers. Smal tears to backwrapper at edges. (4),141 pp. and 3 plates.‎

‎"STEINHEIL. C.A. (KARL AUGUST).‎

‎Beschreibung und Vergleichung der galvanischen Telegraphen Deurschlands nach Besichtigung im April 1849. Feststellung der vortheilhaftesten Ssteme. Angabe einer Verbesserung des Morse'schen Apparates.‎

‎(München, 1849). 4to. Contemp. clothbacked boards. Stamp on title-page. Some browning to title-page and last page. A dampstain in upper margin on the first 4 leaves. Some marginal brownspots to the last 3 leaves. Title-page (2) pp. and pp. (779-)840, some textillustrations. In ""Abhandlungen der H. Cl. d.k. Ak. d. Wiss. V.Bd. III Abth.""‎

‎"STODART, J. (JAMES) and FARADAY, M. (MICHAEL). - A PIONEER WORK IN CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY.‎

‎On the Alloys of steel. Read March 21, 1822.‎

‎(London, W. Nicol, 1922). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"" 1822 - Part II. Pp. 273-270. Clean and fine.‎

‎"STUART, CHARLES B.‎

‎The Naval Dry Docks of the United States. Illustrated with Twenty-Four fine Engravings on Steel. (2 Parts). Second Edition.‎

‎New York, Charles B. Norton, 1852. Large 4to. (33x27 cm.). Orig. full calf. Profusely gilt on spine and covers. Inside gilt borders. All edges gilt. Some wear to spine and lacks 2 cm. of leather at top of spine. Both covers detached. (4),113,83 pp. + 14 pp. of announcements. With all 24 engraved plates under tissue-guards. Some brownspots throughout and a leaf with some foxing. The plates in general fine with some brownspots, mainly marginal.‎

‎"SUBMACHINEGUN - S.M.G.‎

‎S.M.G.=Bilderbuch. Von einem M.G.=Offizier.‎

‎Berlin, ""Offene Worte"", 1931. Small 8vo-oblong. Orig. printed wrappers. (150),VI pp. With 72 full-page photographic illustrations of instructions on German SMGs.‎

Bookseller reference : 56250

‎"SVENSKA JÄRNVÄGER.‎

‎Teknisk-Ekonomisk Beskrifning öfver Svenska Statens Järnvägsbygnadar I-II + Tillæg. (I. Vestra Stambanan, ""Stockholm-Göteborg"", med Utgrening til Örebro. - II. Södra Stambanan: Malmö-Nässjö-Jönköping-Falköping, samt Tillæg: Rörlig Materiel vid State...‎

‎Stockholm., 1868-(72). Atlas alene. Tvær-folio. 3 orig.helshirtmapper. Med 63+28+15 litograferede plancher. (15 plancher med lokomotiver og vogne). Ialt 106 plancher litograferede af Generalstaben, C.G.Höglind,Schlechter & Seedorff. Planchernes størrelse: 44 x 55 cm.‎

‎A very rare and fine set of 106 lithographed plates depicting the Swedish trailway buildings and trains. Sweden started building railways comparatively late. Sweden hesitated under heavy debate for several years because of the costs and other issues. Following the parliament's decision in 1854 a colonel of the Navy Mechanical Corps, Nils Ericson, was chosen as the leader for the project of building the main lines (stambanorna). His proposal was that the line between Gothenburg and Stockholm (Västra Stambanan) should run south of Lake Mälaren to avoid competition with shipping. This was completed in 1862.He also proposed that the line between Malmö and Stockholm (Södra stamabanan) should go to Nässjö and then on to Falköping, where it would meet up with Västra stambanan. There was a decision that, for military reasons, the railways should avoid the coasts as much as possible.The railway to Falköping was a temporary solution until Östra stambanan between Nässjö and Katrineholm, which lay further up along Västra stambanan, could be built. Nils Ericson's proposal also included the railway between Stockholm and Ånge (Norra stambanan) and Stambanan genom övre Norrland (""the main line through Upper Norrland"") which runs between Bräcke and Boden. A railway between Oslo and Laxå (Nordvästra stambanan) was also planned. Laxå lies on Västra stambanan.The first parts of Västra and Södra stambanan were opened in 1856. In 1862 the whole of Västra stambanan was opened and in 1864 Södra stambanan was opened in its entirety. Nordvästra stambanan was opened in 1871 and Östra stambanan in 1874.The Norra stambanan opened in 1881and Stambanan genom övre Norrland opened in 1894. A railway called Norrländska tvärbanan between Trondheim and Ånge opened in 1885.When Ericson resigned in 1862 his authority was divided between two agencies - Byggnadsbyrån (The Building Bureau) and Trafikbyrån (The Traffic Bureau). In 1888 the agencies were combined again as Kungliga Järnvägsstyrelsen (The Royal Railway Committee).‎

Bookseller reference : 6343

‎"SWAN, JOSEPH WILSON.‎

‎(1) Electric Lamps. Letters Patent for an Invention of ""IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC LAMPS, AND IN THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED IN THEIR CONSTRUCTION."" [British Patent] No. 4933. +(2) Electric Lighting by Incandescence (Royal Institution of Great Britain. Weekl... - [THE FINAL CONQUEST OF DARKNESS]‎

‎[London, Eyre and Spottiswoode], 1880, 27th November + 1882 + 1885 (1): 8vo. Unbound. With a recent, discreete paper spine. A few smaller tears to extremities. 4 pp. + 1 plate (showing electric light bulbs].(2): 8vo. Original self-wrappers. Stitched at spine. Near mint.(3): 4 pages 8vo.‎

‎Scarce original printed patent for the seminal invention that is the incandescent light bulb. Though usually erroneously ascribed to Thomas Edison, it was in fact Joseph Swan who invented the light bulb and ended the dark ages. - Here sold together with the extremely scarce offprint of Swan's 1882 speech on his seminal invention as well as a highly important and interesting autograph letter on the same subject, namely ""the new filament or ""Artificial Silk"" as I have been calling it"", in which Swan also confirms his priority in invention and warns against letting the withsent speciman fall into the hands of lamp makers. Swan first publicly demonstrated his incandescent carbon lamp at a lecture for the Newcastle upon Tyne Chemical Society on December 18th 1878. However, after burning with a bright light for some minutes in his laboratory, the lamp broke down due to excessive current. By 1879 Swan had solved the problem of incandescent electric lighting by means of a vacuum lamp and he publicly demonstrated a working lamp to a larger audience. He was not completely satisfied, however, as there were still some fundamental problems attached to it that would make it impossible to consider the invention completed. By 1880, however, he had finally reached perfection. The striking improvements consisted in the carbonised paper filaments being discarded in favour of ""parchmentised"" cotton thread. Finally, he deemed his milestone invention worthy of filing a patent, and on that memorable day of November 27th 1880, he was granted that most important British Patent No. 4933, ""Electric Lamps"", marking man's final conquest of darkness. ""My invention relates to electric lamps in which is produced by passing an electric current through a conductor of carbon so as to render it incandescent, said carbon conductor being enclosed in an air tight and vacuous or partially vacuous glass vessel.It is well known that the practical efficiency of the kind of electric lamp above described has hitherto been impaired by the want of homogeneity and compactness in the carbon conductors, and by the imperfection of the contact betwixt it and the metallic conductors which convey the electric current to it. I have found that an exceedingly solid, homogenous, and elastic form of carbon, peculiarly adapted for the formation of arches, spirals, or other forms of conductor for electric lamps, can be produced from cotton thread which has been subjected to the action of sulpuric acid of such strength as to cause a similar kind of change to take place in the thread to that which takes place in the bibulous paper in the well known process of making vegetable parchment."" (Lines 6-19 in the present patent).From the time of his patent, Swan began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house, Underhill on Kells Lane in Low Fell, Gateshead, was the world's first to have working light bulbs installed. In 1881 he founded his own company, The Swan Electric Light Company and began commercial production of his light bulb.The invention of the light bulb is a turning point in the history of mankind, like the wheel or the invention of the printing press. As McLuhan put it in his groundbreaking main work, ""a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence."" (p. 8). It does not have content in itself, as e.g. a newspaper, but it is a medium with a social effect strong enough to change the way we think, act, and behave. A light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. Electric light is ""pure information"" - a medium without a message. ""Whether the light is being used for brain surgery or night baseball is a matter of indifference."" Both activities, he explains are in some way the content of electric light, as they could not exist without the light. The medium that is electric light shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action. The question of who the actual inventor of the light bulb was has been greatly debated ever since those crucial years of 1879-80. Working on the invention at about the same time as Swan, but independently, was Thomas Edison. In America, Edison had been working on copies of Swan's original light bulb. Though Swan had beaten him to this goal, Edison obtained patents (November 1879) for a fairly direct copy of the Swan light, and started an advertising campaign that claimed that he was the real inventor. Swan, who was less interested in making money from the invention, but who had still established the first commercial manufacture of incandescent light bulbs, agreed that Edison could sell the lights in America while he retained the rights in Britain. They soon agreed, however, to work together.Following his successful laboratory experiments in 1878, Swan let two years pass before taking steps to patent his invention. It might be difficult to understand why Swan did not make more haste and let Edison beat him to it, but the answer seems to be fairly clear: ""the principle of the carbon lamp had long been known. The fact that he had made this principle workable, was not in Swan's opinion capable of sustaining a patent."" (The Pageant of the Lamp, p. 28). The patent that he saw fit to take out was that for the step in the process which made the light bulb perfectly functional and ready for commercial launch - only then did it make sense to take out the patent. In principle, Edison's earlier patent contains nothing new. Only with the patent by Swan, the true inventor of the light bulb, is the incandescent light bulb presented for the first time in it fully functioning form. Edison and Swan, both practical men, soon agreed to more or less simultaneous discovery of the light bulb, and they decided to cooperate. ""As it was, the two inventors took the sensible view. Litigation would only have squandered their energies and resources"" and in 1881 they wisely combined forces, their respective English companies being merged into the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company Limited."" (The Pageant of the Lamp, p. 29). ""When the inventors united in a combination which gave them a virtual monopoly, it was Swan's parchmentised cellulose which glowed in the fine lamps of Edison and Swan."" (The Pageant of the Lamp, p. 31).The Savoy in London, was the first public building in the world lit entirely by electricity. Swan supplied about 1,200 incandescent lamps, powered by an 88.3 kW (120hp) generator on open land near the theatre. The builder of the Savoy, Richard D'Oyly Carte, explained why he had introduced Swan's electric light: ""The greatest drawbacks to the enjoyment of the theatrical performances are, undoubtedly, the foul air and heat which pervade all theatres. As everyone knows, each gas-burner consumes as much oxygen as many people, and causes great heat beside. The incandescent lamps consume no oxygen, and cause no perceptible heat.""[15] The first generator proved too small to power the whole building, and though the entire front-of-house was electrically lit, the stage was lit by gas until 28 December 1881. At that performance, Carte stepped onstage and broke a glowing lightbulb before the audience to demonstrate the safety of Swan's new technology.THE INCLUDED LETTER reads: ""I herewith send a specimen of the new filament or ""Artificial Silk"" as I have been calling it. It is as you are probably aware produced on the same principle as silk i.e. from a liquid which solidifies immediately after emission from aperture. Made thick it is very like silk-worm gut -- made thinner it is like hair. Very superior carbon filaments can be produced from it. I do not wish any of it to go into the hands of lamp makers. Therefore please return the specimen together with the lamp to the stand at the EXn (i.e. exhibition). I have told Howard Swan who has charge of my stand at the Exhn to let you have the Miner's Safety Lamp. I was the first to propose this application of the incandescent lamp & the first to actually make such a lamp. Very truly yours, J.W. Swan.""‎

Bookseller reference : 48292

‎"SWINTON, A. A. CAMPBELL.‎

‎Distant Electric Vision (+) Telegraphic Photography and Electric Vision (+) Telegraphic Photography and Electric Vision. - [THE FIRST DESCRIPTION OF AN ELECTRONIC METHOD OF PRODUCING TELEVISION]‎

‎London, Macmillan & Co, 1908. Royal8vo. Bound in contemporary half calf with five raised bands and two black leather title labels with gilt lettering to spine. In ""Nature"", May - October, 1908, Vol. LXXVIII [78]. Library label to first page of index and bookplate pasted on to front free end-paper. Fine and clean Fine and clean P. 151" Pp. 105-6. [Entire volume: LII, 686 pp.].‎

‎First printing of this seminal publication in the history of television" it is generally considered the earliest and most important paper in the early development of television. It constitutes the first description of an electronic method of producing television.Responding to an article in the June 4, 1908 issue of Nature by Shelford Bidwell entitled ""Telegraphic Photography and Electric Vision,"" A. A. Campbell Swinton wrote a letter to the editor of Nature proposing a solution to the most pressing problems in achieving ""distant electric vision"": ""This part of the problem of obtaining distant electric vision can probably be solved by the employment of two beams of kathode rays (one at the transmitting and one at the receiving station) synchronously deflected by the varying fields of two electromagnets placed at right angles to one another and energised by two alternating electric currents of widely different frequencies, so that the moving extremities of the two beams are caused to sweep simultaneously over the whole of the required surface within the one-tenth of a second necessary to take advantage of visual persistence."" (SWINTON).""The final, insurmountable problems with any form of mechanical scanning were the limited number of scans per second, which produced a flickering image, and the relatively large size of each hole in the disk, which resulted in poor resolution. In 1908 a Scottish electrical engineer, A. A. Campbell Swinton, wrote that the problems 'can probably be solved by the employment of two beams of kathode rays' instead of spinning disks. Cathode rays are beams of electrons generated in a vacuum tube. Steered by magnetic fields or electric fields, Swinton argued, they could 'paint' a fleeting picture on the glass screen of a tube coated on the inside with a phosphorescent material. Because the rays move at nearly the speed of light, they would avoid the flicker problem, and their tiny size would allow excellent resolution. Swinton never built a set (for, as he said, the possible financial reward would not be enough to make it worthwhile)..."" (Britannica). Hiers, Early Television no 366.‎

Bookseller reference : 46976

‎"SWINTON, A. A. CAMPBELL.‎

‎Distant Electric Vision (+) Telegraphic Photography and Electric Vision (+) Telegraphic Photography and Electric Vision. - [THE FIRST DESCRIPTION OF AN ELECTRONIC METHOD OF PRODUCING TELEVISION]‎

‎London, Macmillan & Co, 1908. Royal8vo. Bound in contemporary half calf with five raised bands and two black leather title labels with gilt lettering to spine. In ""Nature"", May - October, 1908, Vol. LXXVIII [78]. Library label to first page of index and bookplate pasted on to front free end-paper. Fine and clean Fine and clean P. 151" Pp. 105-6. [Entire volume: LII, 686 pp.].‎

‎"Système ""D"""‎

‎"Ce que vous pouvez faire avec le plâtre : Confection et pose des carreaux, installation de cloisons, contruction en plâtre au mâchefer, meubles en plâtre au mâchefer, moulage, stucs, etc. Les sélections de Système ""D"", N° 71."‎

‎Paris, Société Parisienne d'Edition, 1959. 13 x 18, 31 pp., nombreuses figures, broché, bon état.‎

Bookseller reference : 81766

‎"Système ""D"""‎

‎"Comment préparer, appliquer, nettoyer, badigeons et peintures, comment réaliser des imitations de marbre. Les sélections de Système ""D"", N° 32."‎

‎Paris, Société Parisienne d'Edition, 1959. 13 x 18, 31 pp., 6 figures, broché, bon état.‎

Bookseller reference : 81746