Details
ROBISON, John (1739-1805). A System of Mechanical Philosphy. Edited by David Brewster (1781-1868). Edinburgh: John Murray, 1822.
4 volumes, 8o (209 x 130 mm). Numerous text illustrations, 50 folding engraved plates, most by W. H. Lizars. (Minor foxing and offsetting to plates and to gathering 2G in vol. I, minor dampstaining to title and preliminaries of Vol. II). Contemporary calf gilt (rebacked, preserving original spines). Provenance: James Watt (1769-1848), son of the engineer and inventor; gift to an unknown recipient (presentation inscription on front pastedown "The gift of James Watt Esq - on the occasion of my [illegible] & arranging the [illegible] at a public meeting in London to erect a public monument to the memory of his father", and on the front flyleaf in the same hand "Given me by James Watt of Soho").
FIRST EDITION. A collection of articles written between 1793 and 1801 by Robison, the main contributor to the third edition of the Encyclopeda Britannica. Many, though not all, of these articles were written for the encyclopedia, which was intended to instruct artisans and craftsmen. The articles cover a wide range of issues, including astronomy, pneumatics, electricity, the scale of music and the "speaking, marine and musical" trumpets, carpentry and dynamics. Norman 1839. (4)
4 volumes, 8
FIRST EDITION. A collection of articles written between 1793 and 1801 by Robison, the main contributor to the third edition of the Encyclopeda Britannica. Many, though not all, of these articles were written for the encyclopedia, which was intended to instruct artisans and craftsmen. The articles cover a wide range of issues, including astronomy, pneumatics, electricity, the scale of music and the "speaking, marine and musical" trumpets, carpentry and dynamics. Norman 1839. (4)