1900 Field Work and Instruments Arthur T. Walmisley First Edition Surveying
 
A substantial and extensively illustrated First Edition of Field Work and Instruments, published in London in 1900 by D. Fourdrinier, also of Whittaker & Co. Written by architect and civil engineer Arthur Thomas Walmisley, the book provides students and practitioners with a practical guide to the construction, adjustment and use of surveying instruments and their application in the field.
Walmisley covers an impressive range of equipment, including the cross staff, prismatic compass, clinometer, vernier, sextants, level staff, surveying telescopes, hand levels, circumferentor, theodolite, levelling instruments, tacheometer, telemeters, line rangers, curve ranger, clinograph and aneroid.
 
Bibliographical Details
Author: Arthur Thomas Walmisley
Title: Field Work and Instruments
Series: The Builder Student's Series
Publisher: D. Fourdrinier, "Builder" Office, Catherine Street, W.C.; also Whittaker & Co., Paternoster Square, E.C., London
Printer: Love and Wyman, Limited, Great Queen Street, London
Date: 1900
Edition: First Edition, first printing
Binding: Original green cloth over boards, with gilt lettering to the front board and spine
Format: Approximately 18.8 × 13.5 × 2.4 cm
Extent: 279 pages, followed by publisher's advertisements
Contemporary bibliographical evidence identifies the 1900 D. Fourdrinier issue as a First Edition, first printing. A contemporary advertisement for The Builder Student's Series also lists the work at 7s. 6d. and describes it as containing 214 illustrations.
 
Historical and Collector Context
The book belongs to the practical educational literature produced for students entering the architectural, surveying and engineering professions. Its emphasis is not merely on using instruments but on understanding their construction, adjustment and accurate application.
The extensive technical illustrations are especially valuable today. They record the appearance and working principles of surveying equipment used at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, including instruments such as theodolites, sextants, levels, telemeters and tacheometers.
Walmisley's work is also of interest within the wider history of British engineering. He was involved in architectural and engineering practice and was appointed engineer to the Dover Harbour Board in 1888. He was also associated with the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
 
About the Author
Arthur Thomas Walmisley (1848–1923) was a British architect and civil engineer. Born in Pimlico, London, he was articled to the engineer and architect Roland Mason Ordish and studied at King's College, London. He established his own architectural practice in 1877 and later became engineer to the Dover Harbour Board.
Walmisley was a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and an Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He also lectured on waterways, harbours and docks at University College, London. His wider professional work included engineering associated with Dover Harbour and the Olympia building in London.
 
Exterior Condition
The book remains structurally sound and robust in its original green cloth binding. The cloth retains good colour, with light marks, light areas of fading, very soft bumping to the corners and light rubbing at the edges. There are very small splits at the corners and a couple of very small splits at the edges of the spine. These are minor and do not compromise the binding.
 
Interior Condition
The pages are bright for their age and only lightly tanned. They are generally neat, clean and predominantly uncreased, with only occasional light marks. There is some excess paper between a few sections, probably associated with the binding of the plates. There are no missing pages.
One folding plate, facing page 93, has a few very small creases and minor edge tears at the bottom, without loss to the text or illustrations. The folding plate facing page 129 has separated slightly from the binding at the lower inner margin but remains attached and secure. Pages 171–176 are slightly loose at the lower inner margin but remain secure. There are also a couple of extremely light cracks in the gutters, not compromising the structural integrity.
There are no missing plates or pages. All 279 pages have been checked, together with the publisher's advertisements at the rear.
The front pastedown bears an ink ownership stamp for R. J. Steffens, with remnants of pencil on the title page and a further ownership inscription to the half title. No other ownership marks have been noted.
 
Physical Details
279 pages plus advertisements at the rear. Approximately 18.8 × 13.5 × 2.4 cm. Weight approximately 508 grams.
 
Collectability
This book’s appeal is enhanced by the First Edition status, original cloth binding, extensive series of technical illustrations and numerous folding plates, particularly for collectors interested in the history of surveying, civil engineering, architecture, scientific instruments and practical technical education.
The survival of the plates is important, and this copy has been carefully checked against its illustrations. The ownership marks also give the book a modest additional historical interest.