Explication des travaux entrepris pour la construction de la Tonnelle, ou Passage sous la Tamise, entre Rotherhithe et Wapping à l'effet d'ouvrir une Communication permanente entre les deux rives de ce fleuve
Features
Author: s.a.
Publisher: W. Warrington
Place of printing: London
Year of publication: 1840
Product Condition:
Small oblong album without paperback: papers tied by a thin string with traces of dust on the two outermost pages. Slightly browned papers and plates with rare foxing; in the die-cut table (workers at work in the tunnel) the folded flap is detached
Pages: 16 pp. et 8 cc numbered from 17 to 24
Format: In the sixteenth
Dimensions (cm):
Height: 10
Width: 13
Description
Interesting and curious album that tells the story of the construction of the Thames Tunnel, the 396 meter underground tunnel that connects the two banks of the Thames between Rotherhithe and Limehouse, the first built under a river. Our edition is that of 1840, when the works were almost completed: the first edition of this booklet dates back to 1836. The construction works were very troubled: after a first failed attempt in 1805-1809, the works were resumed in 1825 thanks to invention of the tunnel expert Marc Brunel: the excavation was carried out by several workers at the same time placed in the compartments of a reinforced cast iron shield and was then consolidated as it proceeded with a lining of cast iron rings (the same system will be used in the construction of the London Underground). Some of the 10 tables that illustrate our small album describe these technical solutions. The tunnel was completed in November 1841 and opened to the public on 25 March 1843: initially designed for horse-drawn carriages, it was in fact a pedestrian tunnel and became a popular tourist attraction. After the list of "Directeurs et Members de la Commission de la Compagnie de la Tonnelle sous la Tamise", a 16-page introduction tells the story of the project; followed by 8 explanation cards of the planches to which are added another 2 planches with the plan of the project and a section of the bottom of the Thames with the tunnel with the city in the background (4 of the 10 planches are folded)
Product availability
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