Autograph Letter Signed ('James Nasmyth') to John Whitehead Esq.,

2 pages 8vo with integral blank leaf. Fireside, Patricroft, 14 July 

James Nasmyth was a great nineteenth century engineer who co-founded Nasmyth, Gaskell & Company, manufacturers of machine tools. He is best known for his invention the steam hammer. In 1834, at the age of 26, he set up his own engineering business and two years later he was able to take a lease of 6 acres of land at Patricroft (from which this letter is written), then on the edge of Manchester, and there he established the foundations of what became the Bridgewater foundry. His invention of the steam hammer came in 1939 (built in 1942) and from 1843 to 1856 it became the source of enormous prosperity to the company. Nasmyth retired in 1856 to Penshurst, Kent, and devoted his many remaining years to his interests and hobbies, particularly Astronomy, designing and building his own telescopes.

This letter, written in 1850 at the height of Nasmyth and his foundry's productivity shows how busy he was during this period: "a greater than usual pressure of business affairs. It would have given me great pleasure to have accepted your invitation to give a lecture on some subject interesting to the members of your Institution but owning to the incessant demands of business I am obliged to set aside for I few some years all such pleasant engagements - and as I have already declined such invitations from Manchester Institutions and other places that have [...] strong claims on me I must however reluctantly decline your valued and flattering invitation [...]"

A good letter, by an interesting man, in fine condition.

Stock Code: 224930