Large 8vo (270x160 mm), (4)-iv-580 pages and 10 tables, 15 plates, 1 large color engraving. binding : Modern quarter cloth, flat spine. Paper with foxings.
First edition. Reference work on the beginnings of the use of the propeller as a means of propulsion of ships. T he propeller improved in the 1830s begins to show its superiority over paddle wheels, and all commercial or military fleets are in full transition to steam propulsion.
The frontispiece represents the Himalaya, a British liner which is then the largest ship ever built. It will be used by the Royal Navy during the Second Opium War and will not be destroyed until 1940 by a German bombing.