1871 Rare Poster-Sized Blueprint / Technical Drawing. Beam Engine, Luton Water Works.

A large (31.5" x 23") technical drawing of the beam engine at Luton Water Works. These are details of the cylinder and piston. The waterworks was built after outbreaks of smallpox and cholera.

The full print is shown in the last photo. Other photos show details from the print.

The drawing was a supplement to The Engineer, dated Friday March 3rd, 1871 (top right of drawing). The Engineer was one of the world's oldest professional journals.

Printed on thin paper. Small tears along edges have been repaired with archival mending tissue. Also some chips along the bottom margin, not affecting the image. Otherwise in very good condition. It is quite rare for a technical drawing of this size from the 1800s to have survived, and in such condition, too. Blank en verso. The colour of the paper is hard to capture due to the thinness of the paper, and the photos are an approximation of the actual color.

Technical drawing by Whieldon, Leckey and Lucas (bottom left)

As far as we can tell, this is the only one currently available for purchase online.

Sent to you rolled in a tube.

TU10