Gunnery in 1858: Being a Treatise on Rifles, Cannon, and Sporting Arms; Explaining the Principles of the Science of Gunnery, and Describing the Newest Improvements in Fire-Arms
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1858. Binding: Original black morocco, rebacked, over black cloth boards. Flat spine with gilt illustration. , Notes: William Greener (1806–1869) was an English inventor and gunmaker. He developed a self-expanding bullet in 1835, an electric lamp in 1846 (patent specification 11076 of that year) some 33 years before Thomas Edison's patent in 1879. William Greener also invented the percussion system for firing cannon, made improvements to the miner's safety lamp and won a prize for designing a mechanical device by which four gates at railway/road level crossings could be opened or closed simultaneously. He also invented a self-righting lifeboat, which was exhibited with a rocket gun and several of his famous percussion muzzle-loading shotguns and rifles at the Great Exhibition of 1851, where he was awarded a gold medal.
, Size: 8vo.(220 x 135 mm), Illustration: Illustrated with 5 plates., Provenance: Ex-Libris F.P. Williamson; bookplate on front pastedown. Gift inscription to flyleaf., Pages: 439 pp., plus ads., Category: Book Military;. A fine example of this illustrated treatise on guns and firearms. Item #B7374
Price: $575.00