PIM, James. The Atmospheric Railway. A Letter to the Right Hon. the Earl of Ripon, London: printed for private circulation, 1841, 8°, FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY TO I. K. BRUNEL with author's inscription on front cover, 4 folding lithographed plates (title affected by damp, final leaf detached, plates frayed at margins), original printed wrappers -- James PILBROW. Atmospheric Railway and Canal Propulsion, and Pneumatic Telegraph, London: 1844, 8°, FIRST EDITION, 3 folding lithographed plates (some marginal soiling), original printed wrappers. (2)

Details

PIM, James. The Atmospheric Railway. A Letter to the Right Hon. the Earl of Ripon, London: printed for private circulation, 1841, 8°, FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY TO I. K. BRUNEL with author's inscription on front cover, 4 folding lithographed plates (title affected by damp, final leaf detached, plates frayed at margins), original printed wrappers -- James PILBROW. Atmospheric Railway and Canal Propulsion, and Pneumatic Telegraph, London: 1844, 8°, FIRST EDITION, 3 folding lithographed plates (some marginal soiling), original printed wrappers. (2)

Lot Essay

As the title to his pamphlet announces, James Pim was the "Treasurer of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway Company," and according to Rolt (p. 164) "it was largely due to his advocacy that the Company decided to give the atmospheric system a full-scale trial on a short line between Kingstown and Dalkey." The line opened on August 19th 1843, and the little railway worked well enough to give Brunel the vain hope that the atmospheric system had a future ahead of it.

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