author

Harold P. (Harold Phillips) Manly

b. 1887

A practical early-20th-century technical writer, he produced clear, hands-on guides about welding, automobiles, tractors, and radio for everyday mechanics and readers who wanted to understand how machines worked. His best-known book, Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting, helped make complex shop techniques more approachable.

1 Audiobook

Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting Electric, Forge and Thermit Welding together with related methods and materials used in metal working and the oxygen process for removal of carbon

Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting Electric, Forge and Thermit Welding together with related methods and materials used in metal working and the oxygen process for removal of carbon

by Harold P. (Harold Phillips) Manly

About the author

Born in 1887, Harold Phillips Manly wrote practical manuals rather than literary fiction, focusing on skills people could use in workshops, garages, and machine shops. Records from major library and book catalogues identify him as the author of Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting and a long list of other how-to books on automotive repair, batteries, tractors, motorcycles, and radio.

His work has a strong teach-yourself spirit. Titles associated with him suggest a writer interested in explaining new technologies in plain language at a time when welding, motor vehicles, and electrical systems were becoming part of everyday industrial life.

Because biographical information about Manly himself is scarce in readily available reliable sources, the books remain the clearest picture of his career: he appears to have been a prolific explainer of modern mechanical technology, writing for readers who wanted solid, usable knowledge.