Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023
There has never before been a book quite like Beautiful Engines. Here, in one place, in full-colour, are some of the most important internal engines ever created. Each is treated as a mechanical work of art created by an inspired inventor. There's the Parisian-built Lenoir, the German Ottos, the first successful diesel, and the English Crossley. In addition, of course, there are antique engines from every area of the U.S. including California, the Midwest, and New England.
But Beautiful Engines is much more than a magnificent collection of professionally done photographs. The story of each engine is concisely told and the personality and experience of its developer is linked to each machine. Some stories are happy, others sad, but taken together, they represent a moving overview of the human drama that was behind the internal combustion century. Another feature of the book is its inclusion not only of the specifications of each engine, but easily understood descriptions of the engine's operation. In the case of several engines, unusual features are defined with labels so that today's readers can study for themselves how these mechanical marvels actually operate.
Beautiful Engines is a book for engine collectors of all sorts, automobile collectors, historians, and virtually anyone fascinated by the remarkable machines that powered the twentieth century's growth. This is a book that you'll refer to again and again in times to come, a book with a surprise on every page. Beautiful Engines is a book that at last gives the stationary and marine engine the recognition they have so long deserved.
Presented here are over 30 rare engines including some of the most important models of all time such as the 1861 Lenoir, the 1867 Otto and Langen, and the famous Otto four-cycle patented in 1876. But these are only a few of the engines that enthusiasts and historians will find. Every area of the U.S. is represented. From California come rare Pacific, Regan, Samson, Western, and other engines. From America's heartland comes a totally original Witte and a magnificent Foos. From Baltimore comes the White & Middleton and from New England come classic marine engines. Beautiful Engines is a book that will reward close study and delight enthusiasts and collectors for years to come.
Code No. 009412, ISBN 1928862047