The Manufacture of Ice on a Commercial Scale and with Commercial Economy, by Steam or Water Power: the Invention of Alexander C. Twining of New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven: Thomas J. Stafford, 1857. First Edition. Very good. First edition; 8 1/2 x 5 1/2; pp. [1], 4-22; self-wraps, tied with a string (string replaced); several small nicks to edges and tips of spine; a few minor spots to wraps; in very good condition.Alexander Catlin Twining (1801 - 1884) was an inventor, astronomer, engineer, author, and educator, best known for his work on refrigeration and ice-making. Firmly believing that manufactured ice would be more economical and convenient than natural ice, especially in the Southern states, he began experimenting in 1848 using ether as a refrigerant. With utter confidence in his own success he would file a caveat with the US Patent Office in November 1849 - long before he secured his US Patent No. 10,221 on 8 November, 1853. By this time the vapor-compression system of ice manufacturing was already known, but his patent featured an unusual method of applying the refrigeration in the process. One of his machines would be constructed at the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company in Cleveland, Ohio and he would produce ice for several years, even attracting financial backers for the erection of an ice-making plant inNew Orleans. Unfortunately, the Civil War would put the brakes on his plans and his machine would never be developed commercially. According to Twining himself, the war would also allow his rivals Ferdinand Carre and James Harrison (pioneers of mechanical refrigeration) to steal his ideas.