“Extracts from the Report of Napoleon Garella, an Engineer appointed by the French Government to survey the Isthmus of Panama...”, (“Line and Principal Features of the Proposed Canal”), pp 18-24, (“Survey of the Isthmus of Panama”) 73-85, 143-154, 217-225. In: Journal of the Franklin Institute, edited by Thomas P. Jones, volume 12, third series, vol 12; 441pp, 2 plates. Half-calf, with attractive marbled boards, raised bands, gilt dentelles. Condition: ex-library though faintly, with a ghost of a call slip on the spine bottom, bookplate, and stamps on the title page. The book was very little used. Very solid, crisp, and clean copy. VG $200
People were thinking big thoughts about a canal in Panama even in the first half of the 19th century, as we can see in this series of four papers. No doubt the information was useful to those who completed the famous and infamous Panama Railway, which spanned the isthmus at 47 miles and connected the oceans, and was completed in 1855 (about a half-century before the canal). The cost in human lives of this undertaking was incredible: anywhere between 5,000 and 20,000 workers lost their lives, making it one of the deadliest of modern tech projects.
Also of interest in this volume:
“Description of the Iron Steamer “John Stevens”, 334-336, with a lovely full page plate of the 245' ship;
Morse, S(amuel) and B.R. Stevens, description of a patent for an improvement in Daguerreotype Impressions (one para), page 258;
(Saxton, Joseph). “Description of an Automatic Dividing Machine, arranged for use in the Coast Survey Office”, pp 258-261, with a double-page plate showing the plan and elevation of the machine;
“On some Products of Chinese Manufacture collected by Jules Itier, Chief Inspector of customs” pp 281-284;
“Biram's patent Anemometer, for Measuring the Velocity of the Wind, the Current of Air in Mines, &c.”, pp 143-144, with a small woodcut of the device.
...and many dozens of other papers.
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