BARNARD, John Gross, WRIGHT, Horatio Gouverneur, & MICHIE...

Report on the Fabrication of Iron for Defensive Purposes, and its Uses in Modern Fortifications especially in Works of Coast Defense.

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38 lithographed plates (many folding & some quite large) & illus. in the text. 2 p.l., iii, [3]-230 pp. Large 4to, orig. half-sheep & cloth (extremities a little worn), upper cover & spine lettered in gilt. Washington: G.P.O., 1871. First edition, Professional Papers of the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, No. 21. Barnard (1815-82), a graduate of West Point, served on the corp of engineers and worked on many projects during a long and successful career. “When he joined the corps of engineers its officers were engaged in the construction of a system of defenses on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to supplement the few old works constructed immediately after the Revolutionary War. In this work he served as superintending engineer of the fortifications of some of our important ports — Portland and New York on the Atlantic coast, Mobile and the mouth of the Mississippi River on the Gulf coast, and San Francisco on the Pacific coast. All of these works were designed to meet the attacks of wooden vessels armed with muzzle-loading cannon. With the introduction of rifled guns and armored vessels, about the time of the Civil War, the coast defenses had to be modified, and after that war Barnard was charged with the study of this problem. On this work he was sent abroad in 1870 to ascertain the progress made in Europe in the development of iron for defensive purposes.”–D.A.B., I, p. 626. This book is the chief work stemming from his European investigations. The plates depict the massive defensive works constructed in England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Very good copy. Ex Bibliotheca Mechanica.

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• ordernr.: HillBibl-1419

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