Autograph letter signed ("I. K. Brunel"), to [Captain Christopher] Claxton at the Great Western Steam Ship Company, Bristol, two pages, 4to, with intergral blank, the verso with post mark October 12th 1840 [no address].

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Autograph letter signed ("I. K. Brunel"), to [Captain Christopher] Claxton at the Great Western Steam Ship Company, Bristol, two pages, 4to, with intergral blank, the verso with post mark October 12th 1840 [no address].
Finalising the decision to adopt the method of screw propulsion rather than paddle wheels for the the Great Britain. "A short time back Barnes who was with us at the Archimedes told shippers that he had worked out the results of our experiment and made the screw better than the common paddle ... taking into consideration all the advantages of the screw it was better than any paddle and that he had no doubt it would soon supercede the paddle. I never heard this till today ... this is satisfactory but except to Guppy or Bright do not mention it."
Creased on folds, torn with loss around wax seal.
With a printed report by Brunel for the directors of the Great Western Steam-Ship Company, on the state of the Great Britain after she had run aground in Dundrum Bay, Co. Down, two pages, folio.
Creased on folds, occasional tears. (2)

Lot Essay

The Archimedes was a three-masted topsail schooner engined by the Rennie Brothers and launched at Millwall in November 1838. She was driven, not by paddle wheels, but by the new form of screw propellor. She was the first considerable sea-going vessel in the world to be screw propelled. Brunel was asked by the directors of the Great Western Steam Ship company to carry out experiments over a 6 month period on the advantages of the screw propellor. Brunel strongly recommended to the directors the adoption of the screw propellor on the Great Britain as a result of these experiments (see the following lot).

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