[ROYAL NAVY] [MARITIME TECHNOLOGY] Treatise on Ships' Cables

London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1873. First Edition. 12mo, 60pp., illustrated with one small and three very large folding plates, followed by advertisements. A very interesting nautical volume, laser-focused on the subject of ships' cables, beginning with their use in ancient and more recent history, along with some charts and tables indicating various strengths and towing capacities. At rear are advertisements in Chinese, Japanese, and Persian, for Peacock and Buchanan's Ship Cables (no doubt included herein to boast of the firm's worldwide influence), and then followed by a series of testimonials, printed on vibrant yellow paper. Book overall near fine in the publisher's blue flexible boards. Significant foxing to one leaf (where the folding plates are inserted), else a fresh, very nice example. Folding plates printed on thin tissue are in excellent condition, with just a few very short and inevitable stress tears. Handsome modern bookplate to the front paste-down, and owner's name to the front free endpaper. Peacock has SIGNED and INSCRIBED this copy to distinguished Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby: "Admiral Sir Geoffrey T. P. Hornby K. C. B. & c & c Commander in Chief - Mediterrannean with the Author's respectful Compliments." Peacock has also somewat boastfully amended a chart on p. 36, writing, "Mr. Peacock's 1 inch cable on testing broke at a strain of 35 tons! The broken link is now in the Chief Constructor's office Admiralty. G. P."

The association between Peacock, the eccentric inventor, and Hornby, the high-ranking Admiral, is significant. Historian Ben Wilson described Hornby as "the exceptional admiral who eased the Navy's transition from sail to steam." Another historian described him as a "[master] of technical detail, [with] a familiarity with contemporary thought and progress that were unusual in those days among officers of his standing." Accomplished both in battle and in de-escalation of conflicts, he has been described by some as a Naval officer in the same league as Lord Nelson. No doubt, Hornby took a keen interest in the various technological experiments and advancements (such as those undertaken by Peacock), whose applications in the context of steam power would help to serve his cause.

The book is quite scarce; we note the last auction appearance in a Maggs catalogue back in 1930. OCLC records fewer than a dozen holdings, and we wonder how many of those contain all of the illustrations intact.