ON THE APPLICATION OF CAST AND WROUGHT IRON TO BUILDING PURPOSES

FAIRBAIRN, William.  ON THE APPLICATION OF CAST AND WROUGHT IRON TO BUILDING PURPOSES.                                                

New York: John Wiley, 1854. 8vo. Publisher's cloth. Frontispiece, viii, 184, (16) pages, 1 folding table. First American edition. [Hitchcock, 435].

Published the same year as the first London edition, this classic work in structural engineering, did much to establish wrought-iron as the leading structural material in the second half of the nineteenth century.  Fairbairn's advocacy is based in great part on constructing fireproof buildings.  A final section explores designs for fireproof mills, in particular a detailed description, and fine illustrations, of the newly completed Saltaire Mill for which he had been the engineer.  Apart from the use of non-combustible materials, Fairbairn recommends the use of such technically advanced devices as water sprinklers and the cooling of columns by cold air.  With sixty-two text illustrations.  Bookplate of William Edson, Civil Engineer, Boston.  A very bright copy of an important and scarce work.

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