James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography

PREFACE

CHAPTER 2 Alexander Nasmyth Born 1758—Grassmarket Edinburgh—Education The Bibler's Seat The brothers Erskine Apprenticed to a coachbuilder The Trustees' Academy Huguenot artisans Alexander Runciman Copy of "The Laocoon" Assistant to Allan Ramsay Faculty of resourcefulness Begins as portrait painter Friendship with Miller of Dalswinton Miller and the first steamboat Visit to Italy Marriage to Barbara Foulis Burns the poet Edinburgh clubs Landscape beauty Abandons portrait for landscape painting David Roberts, R.A. Dean Bridge St. Bernard's Well Nelson's Monument Bow-and-string bridges Sunday rivet - CHAPTER 3 An Artist's Family Sir James Hall Geology of Edinburgh Friends of the family Henry Raeburn Evenings at home Society of artists "Caller Aon" Management of the household The family Education of six sisters The Nasmyth classes Pencil drawing Excursions round Edinburgh Graphic memoranda Patrick Nasmyth, sketch of his life Removes to London Visit to Hampshire Original prices of his works His friends His death - CHAPTER 4 My Early Years Born 1808 Mary Peterkin The brilliant red poppies Left-handed Patrick's birthday Vocal performance A wonderful escape Events of the war The French prisoners Entry of the 42d into Edinburgh Bleaching "claes" on the Calton The Greenside workshops The chimes of St. Giles' The Edinburgh Market The caddies The fishwives The "floore" Traditional fondness for cats A Nasmyth prayer - CHAPTER 5 My School-days My first schoolmaster "Preter pluperfect tense" The "penny pig" Country picnics Pupil at the High School Dislike of Latin Love of old buildings Their masonry Sir Walter Scott "The Heart of Midlothian" John Linnell The collecting period James Watt My father's workshop Make peeries, cannon, and "steels" School friendships Paterson's ironfoundry His foremen Johnie Syme Tom Smith and chemical experiments Kid gloves and technical knowledge - CHAPTER 6 Mechanical Beginnings Study arithmetic and geometry Practise art of drawing Its important uses Make tools and blowpipe Walks round Edinburgh Volcanic origin of the neighbourhood George the Fourth's visit The Radical Road Destructive fires Journey to Stirling The Devon Ironworks Robert Bald Carron Ironworks Coats of mail found at Bannockburn Models of condensing steam-engine Professor Leslie Edinburgh School of Arts Attend University classes Brass-casting in the bedroom George Douglass Make a working steam-engine Sympathy of activity The Expansometer Make a road steam-carriage Desire to enter Maudslay's factory - CHAPTER 7 Henry Maudslay, London Voyage to London with specimens of workmanship First walk through London Visit to Henry Maudslay The interview Exhibit my specimens Taken on as assistant The private workshop Maudslay's constructive excellence His maxims Uniformity of screws Meeting with Henry Brougham David Wilkie Visit to the Admiralty Museum The Block machinery The Royal Mint Steam yacht trip to Richmond Lodgings taken "A clean crossing" - CHAPTER 8 Maudslay's Private Assistant Enter Maudslay's service Rudimentary screw generator The guide screw Interview with Faraday Rate of wages Economical living My cooking stove Make model of marine steam-engine My collar-nut cutting machine Maudslay's elements of high-class workmanship Flat filing Standard planes Maudslay's "Lord Chancellor" Maudslay's Visitors General Bentham, Barton, Donkin and Chantrey The Cundell brothers Walks round London Norman architecture - CHAPTER 9 Holiday in the Manufacturing Districts Coaching trip to Liverpool Coventry English scenery 'The Rocket' The two Stephensons Opening of the railway William Fawcett Birkenhead Walk back to London Patricroft Manchester Edward Tootal Sharp, Roberts and Co. Manchester industry Coalbrookdale The Black Country Dudley Castle Wren's Nest Hill Birmingham Boulton and Watt William Murdoch John Drain Kenilworth—Warwick—Oxford—Windsor—London - CHAPTER 10 Begin Business at Manchester Stamping machine improved Astronomical instruments A reflecting telescope proposed Death of Maudslay Joshua Field 'Talking books' Leave Maudslay and Field Take temporary workshop in Edinburgh Archie Torry Construct a rotary steam-engine Prepare a stock of machine tools Visit to Liverpool John Cragg Visit to Manchester John Kennedy Grant Brothers Take a workshop Tools removed to Manchester A prosperous business begun Story of the brothers Grant Trip to Elgin and Castle Grant The brothers Cowper The printing machine Edward Cowper - CHAPTER 11 Bridgewater Foundry—Partnership Demand for skilled labour Machine tools in request My flat overloaded A crash among the decanters The land at Patricroft Lease from Squire Trafford Bridgewater Foundary begun Trip to Londonderry The Giant's Causeway Cottage at Barton The Bridgewater canal Lord Francis Egerton Safety foundry ladle Holbrook Gaskell taken as partner His eventual retirement - CHAPTER 12 Free Trade in Ability—The Strike—Death of my Father Hugo de Lupus The Peter Stubb's files Worsley labourers Promotion from the ranks Free trade in ability Foreman lieutenants, Archie Torry James Hutton John Clarke Thomas Crewdson Trades' Union interference A strike ordered Workman advertised for A reinforcement of Scotch mechanics The strike scotched Millwrights and engineers Indenture-bound apprentices Visits of my father Enthusiastic reception His last work His death Testimony of Sir David Wilkie - CHAPTER 13 My Marriage—The Steam Hammer Preparations for a home Influence of chance occurrences Visit to Mr. Hartop's near Barnsley Important interview Eventual marriage Great Western Railway locomotives Mr. Humphries and 'Great Western' steamship Forging of paddle-shaft Want of range of existing hammers The first steam hammer sketched Its arrangement The paddle shaft abandoned My sketch copied and adopted My visit to Creuzot Find steam hammer in operation A patent taken out First steam hammer made in England Its general adoption Patent secured for United States - CHAPTER 14 Travels in France and Italy The French Minister of Marine at Paris Rouen—Bayeux—Cherbourg—Brest—Rochefort—Indret M. Rosine Architecture of Nismes Marseilles—Toulon—Voyage to Naples—Genoa—Pisa Bay of Naples The National Museum Visit to Vesuvius The edge of the crater Volcanic commotion Overflows of burning lava Wine-shop at Rosina Return ride to Naples - CHAPTER 15 Steam Hammer Pile-driver The Royal Dockyards Steam hammer for Devonport Scene at the first stroke My Lords of the Admiralty Steam hammer pile-driver required The new docks at Devonport The pile-driver delivered Its description Trail against the old method Its general adoption Happy thoughts Testing of chain cables and anchors Causes of failure Punctilliousness of officials at royal dockyards Egyptian workman employed Affiffi Lalli Letter from Faraday - CHAPTER 16 Nuremberg—St. Petersburg—Dannemora. Visit to Nuremberg Albert Durer Adam Krafft Visit to St. Petersburg General Wilson General Greg Struve the astronomer Palaces and shops Ivy ornamentation The Emperor Nicholas a royal salute Francis Baird Work of Russian serfs The Izak Church Voyage to Stokholm Visit to Upsala The iron mines of Dannemora To Gottenburg by steamer Motala Trollhatten Falls Sweedish people Copenhagen Tycho Brahe; Zeland and Holstein Holland, and return - CHAPTER 17 More about Bridgewater Foundry—Woolwich Arsenal Increased demand for self-acting tools Promotions of lads The Trades' Union again Strike against Platt Brothers Edward Tootal's advice Friendliness between engineering firms Small high-pressure engines Uses of waste steam Improvements in calico-printing Improvements at Woolwich Arsenal Enlargement of workshops Improved machine tools The gun foundry and laboratories Orders for Spain and Russia Rope factory machinery Russian Officers Grand Duke Constantine Lord Ellesmere's visitors Admiral Kornileff - CHAPTER 18 Astronomical pursuits Hobbies at home Drawing Washington Irving Pursuit of astronomy Wonders of the heavens Construction of a new speculum William Lassell Warren de la Rue Home-made reflecting telescope A ghost at Patricroft Twenty-inch diameter speculum Drawings of the moon's surface Structure of the moon Lunar craters Pico Wrinkles of age Extinct craters Landscape scenery of the moon Meeting of British Association at Edinburgh The Bass Rock Professor Owen Robert Chambers The grooved rocks Hugh Miller and boulder clay Lecture on the moon Visit the Duke of Argyll Basaltic formation at Mull The Giant's Causeway The great exhibition Steam hammer engine Prize medals Interview with the Queen and Prince Consort Lord Cockburn Visit to Bonally D. O. Hill - CHAPTER 19 More about Astronomy Sir David Brewster Edward Cowper's lecture Cause of the sun's light Lord Murray Sir T. Mitchell The Milky Way Countless suns Infusoria in Bridgewater Canal Rotary movements of heavenly bodies Geological Society meeting Dr Vaugham Improvement of Small Arms Factory, Enfield Generosity of United States Government The Enfield Rifle - CHAPTER 20 Retirement from Business Letter from David Roberts, R. A. Puddling iron by steam The process tried Sir Henry Bessemer's invention Discussion at Cheltenham Bessemer's account Prepare to retire from business The Countess of Ellesmere The "Cottage in Kent" The "antibilious stock" Hammerfield, Penshurst Planting and gardening The Crystal Palace Music Tools and telescopes The greenhouse - CHAPTER 21 Active leisure Astronomy Lecture on the Moon Edinburgh Old friends Visit to the Continent—Paris, Chartres, Nismes, Chamounix Art of photography Sir John Herschel Spots on the sun's surface E.J. Stone De la Rue Visit from Sir John Herschel Cracking glass globe A million spots and letters Geological diagram Father Secchi at Rome Lord Lyndhurst Visit to Herschel His last letter Publication of The Moon Philip H. Calderon Cardinal Manning Miss Herschel William Lassell Windmill grinding of speculum The dial of life End of recollections

CHAPTER 2. Alexander Nasmyth

CHAPTER 3. An Artist's Family.

CHAPTER 4. My Early Years.

CHAPTER 5. My School-days.

CHAPTER 6. Mechanical Beginnings.

CHAPTER 7. Henry Maudslay, London

CHAPTER 8. Maudslay's Private Assistant

CHAPTER 9. Holiday in the Manufacturing Districts.