[THE GREAT WESTERN] TOWN, Ithiel (? pseudonym). Atlantic Steam-Ships. Some ideas and statements ... Also the arrival, description, and departure of the two first British steam-ships Sirius, and Great Western, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1838, 12°, folding wood-engraved frontispiece and one plate showing the "Great Western" and "Sirius" respectively, vignette of "Robert Fulton" at end (some spotting and dampstaining), later green half calf, original front wrapper bound in, Scott bookplate. [Scott 636; Maggs Nautica 935]

Details

[THE GREAT WESTERN] TOWN, Ithiel (? pseudonym). Atlantic Steam-Ships. Some ideas and statements ... Also the arrival, description, and departure of the two first British steam-ships Sirius, and Great Western, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1838, 12°, folding wood-engraved frontispiece and one plate showing the "Great Western" and "Sirius" respectively, vignette of "Robert Fulton" at end (some spotting and dampstaining), later green half calf, original front wrapper bound in, Scott bookplate. [Scott 636; Maggs Nautica 935]

Lot Essay

The "Sirius," fitted with Samuel Hall's surface condensers, was the first steam ship to cross the Atlantic, sailing from Cork on 4th April 1838, and arriving in New York on the 23rd. But she was only on charter to the British and American Steam Navigation Company, and because she proved too small for the job made no more than two round trips. The "Great Western" famously left Bristol on 8th April and arrived in New York on the 23rd, only a matter of hours after the "Sirius." Designed by Brunel, built by Paterson, and with machinery by Maudslay, she maintained an unrivalled record, making five double voyages in 1838, six in 1839, and before she was disposed of in 1846 crossing and recrossing seventy-four times.

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