Mechanical Devices and Engineering

Artifacts illustrating early mechanical devices like a perpetual motion fountain, an onager, and various engineering tools from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Alexander Graham Bell's photophone, which uses light to transmit sound. Date: 1880

Perpetual motion: A garden fountain worked by water from upper cistern which is filled with water from an Archimedian screw. The screw is driven by a perpetual motion device using a wheel and lead balls. The balls are supposed to force the wheel round as they fall from the inside of the wheel to its

An onager, a Roman torsion powered siege engine An onager, a Roman torsion powered siege engine Copyright: xZoonar.com/Heinz-DieterxFalkensteinx 21665081

An engraving depicting the transferring of thread to the warping frame used to create a warp of the correct size and tension. The sturdy frame has pegs set firmly at regular intervals. Dated 18th century

Determination of alcohol in the beer, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1869.

An engraving depicting an engine used for cutting teeth of clock wheels. The wheel to be cut is screwed on to a hollow brass tube, Q, over the engraved dividing plate. Dated 19th century

Thomas Edison's electric pen with its wet cell battery. The pen was designed to duplicate documents and went on sale in late 1875 but because of the high maintenance battery its commerical life was s

Alexander Graham Bell's photophone, which uses light to transmit sound. Date: 1880

Rear elevation of Cooke and Wheatstone's single needle telegraph; showing the current reverser. 1890.

MAQUINA AUTOMATICA DE CARDAR-1773. Author: RICHARD ARKWRIGHT.

Making butter in a French dairy using a spring pole to work a vertical churn. Woodcut 1885.

Illustration of an 19th Century mechanical pulley

Cartoon depicting a man sheltering himself from the down-pour of cockroaches and black beetles. The comic is commenting on Victorian kitchens which were heavily infested with cockroaches and black beetles. Dated 19th century

Explanation that epicyclic motion , right, needs less effort and so fits massive motion of universe. Engraving 1617.

$Refraction and diffusion of sunlight, vintage engraved illustration. From the Universe and Humanity, 1910.$

Clepsydra: The hand on the clock face was regulated by the level of water in the bottom reservoir which raised and lowered the flood. Dated 1664

An engraving depicting a safety candlestick. Using a ball joint, it was possible to keep the candle vertical irrespective of the angle at which the candlestick held. Dated 19th century

Camera Obscura. From Athanasius Kircher 'Ars Magna', Amsterdam, 1671.

The stoke-hole, the mash tun, and the copper, 1886. Artist: Unknown

Engraving depicting a paying-out machinery and pulley of Giffard's 'Captive' hydrogen balloon. Dated 19th Century

Shafts of a cannon boring machine with drilling bits on the end. The machine was powered by a treadmill, left. From 'De la pirotechnia' by Vannoccio Biringuccio (Venice, 1540). Woodcut.

Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) receiving Transatlantic telegraph, apparatus in use at Brest, France 1877.including his mirror galvanometer

astronomy, allegories, telescope and globe, wood engraving, 1861,

An engraving depicting the reconstruction of Hero's aeolipile. Dated 19th century

G. de Chauliac, Annotations, in La grande chirurgie

Engraving depicting Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric steam engine, 1705. The boiler is at A), and the piston H), is pushed by steam up the open cylinder C): it descends due to atmospheric pressure when steam in the cylinder is cooled and condensed by water from cistern, G). Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) an English inventor who created the first practical steam engine in 1712. Dated 19th century

Illustration depicting a medieval inclined treadmill. From Theatrum Machinarum; Leipzig. 1790

Hydraulischer Telegraf des Aenas Taktikos, Aineias Taktikos / Hydraulic telegraph of Aenas Taktikos, Aineias Taktikos, Historisch, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digital restaurierte Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, genaues Originaldatum nicht bekannt.

Engraving depicting Charles-Émile Reynaud's praxinoscope. A painted strip with figures was placed inside the circumference of the drum which was rotated. The image reflected in the mirrors in the centre of the apparatus gave the impression of a continuous moving picture. Charles-Émile Reynaud (1844-1918) a French inventor. Dated 19th century

Woodcut engraving depicting the production of sodium carbonate with the Leblanc process. A cross-section of a common form of decomposing furnace. Salt and sulphuric acid would be brought together at B).

Engraving depicting a standing clamp used to keep the subject straight during long exposure photographs. Dated 19th Century

Lord Kelvin's (William Thomson's) receiving apparatus in use at Brest; including his mirror galvanometer. 1877. William Thomson; 1st Baron Kelvin; OM; GCVO; PC; FRS; FRSE (26 June 1824 17 December 1907) was a Scots-Irish mathematical physicist and engineer who was born in Belfast in 1824. He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor; which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth; fame and honour.

Household laundry, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1873.

Engraving depicting Alessandro Volta's condensing electroscope.

Engraving depicting the turbine of the Niagara Falls power station.

Carbon microphone, invented in 1878 by David Edward Hughes (1831-1900), English inventor. From R. Wormell 'Electricity in the Service of Man'London, 1890. Engraving

Fountain's chamber for establishing anaesthesia by nitrous oxide (laughing gas) under positive atmospheric pressure a: air pump; b: refrigerator through which air was passed; c: sheet iron operating chamber; d: gas bag connected to face piece. From Henry M Lyman Artificial Anaesthesia and Anaesthestics, London, 1883.

Engraving depicting Luigi Galvani's (1737- 1798) investigation of the behaviour of muscles stimulated by electricity

Engraving depicting a bow drill, a prehistoric form of drilling tool, which was used to produce fire. Dated 19th Century

An engraving depicting an Aquarius water barrel, designed to replace the heavy water jugs usual in toilet sets. When the handle was drawn forward, the barrel revolved until water poured into the basin. Dated 19th century

$Diagram illustrating the effect of refraction. Dated 19th Century$

An engraving depicting the sawing of a tree trunk.

Kliniper Lamellophon - ein kalimbaähnliches Musikinstrument des Yao-Volkes. Afrikanische Kultur und Altertümer. Veröffentlichung der Meyers Enzyklopädie. Kliniper Lamellophon - ein kalimbaähnliches Musikinstrument des Yao-Volkes. Afrikanische Kultur und Altertümer. Veröffentlichung der Meyers Enzyklopädie. LicenseRF Copyright: xZoonar.com/SergeyxKohlx 23206122

Cartoon depicting the conception of Theodore Jones's registered silent alarm clock bedstead exhibited at the Great Exhibition. According to the Official Catalogue "The movement of the hand of a common watch will turn anyone out of bed at any given hour when attached to this bedstead"

Engraving depicting perpetual motion by magnetism. Dated 18th Century

A woodcut engraving depicting the process of forming the throat of a glass goblet. The blower is wearing a shield to protect his face from the heat of the furnace. Dated 18th century

Engraving depicting the Minerva Balloon designed by Étienne-Gaspard Robert. Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763-1837) a Belgian physicist, stage magician and developer of phantasmagoria. Dated 19th Century

Printing on fabrics, The Perrotine, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1858.

Person-to-person blood transfusion. In Read's method depicted here, blood from the donor is passed through a pumped and forced into recipient's arm via a canula. From 'The British Cyclopaedia of Arts and Sciences', Charles Partington, 1833. Woodcut.

Lockstitch sewing machine, eight inches long x 2 inches wide, weighing only 8 oz, patented Berlin 1881. Engraving

Engraving depicting a coining press at the Royal Mint, London. Dated 19th century

Sergeant Ezra Lee making a dive in 'Turtle' in 1776. Submarine by David Bushnell (1742-1824). Air sufficient for 30 minute submersion. Propeller turned by handle and rudder moved by another. During American War of Independence several unsuccessful attempt.

Engraving depicting a Persian Wheel, also known as a Sakia, a mechanical water lifting device which uses buckets, jars, or scoops fastened either directly to a vertical wheel, or to an endless belt activated by such a wheel. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting men centring an arch. Dated 19th century

Illustration of Robert Rettie's marine signal lamps. Dated 19th Century

Illustration showing Lathe using spring bow and device to allow eccentric turning; From Jacques Besson 'Theatre des Instrumens', Lyons, 1593

Engraving depicting Gaston Tissandier taking photographs from his hot-air balloon. Gaston Tissandier (1843-1899) a French chemist, meteorologist, aviator and editor. Dated 19th Century

Purification of silver in a muffle furnace. From 1683 English edition of Lazarus Ercker 'Beschreibung allerfurnemisten mineralischen Ertzt- und Berckwercksarten' originally published in Prague in 1574. Copperplate engraving.

Illustration depicting Papin's steam engine (1707) for pumping water from mines. It was the first engine to use the safety valve he had invented twenty-seven years earlier for his 'digester'. (1647-1713) a French physicist, mathematician and inventor, best known for his pioneering invention of the steam digester, the forerunner of the pressure cooker and of the steam engine. Dated 19th century

eine Wasseruhr, Gerät zur Zeitmessung, bei dem als Hilfsmedium Wasser verwendet wird / a water clock, device for measuring time in which water is used as an auxiliary medium, Historisch, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digital restaurierte Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, genaues Originaldatum nicht bekannt.

Engraving of Woodbridge Davis's Kite for shore ship rescue known as the 'Davis Star'. Dated 19th Century

A magnetized needle pushed through a ball of cork, and floating submerged in a goblet of water, shows dip and the direction of the magnetic pole. From William Gilbert 'De Magnete', London 1600

Engraving depicting the process of removing hair from a goatskin after it had been soaking in the lime-pit for about 5 weeks.

Modern timpani, vintage engraving. Modern timpani, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1869. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10678620

Illustration showing Oersted's discovery of the directive action of currents upon magnets (1819). The magnetic needle will always rest at right angles to the current.

Engraving depicting a vortex box used for studying smoke rings. Tin with hole in one end, containing smouldering paper, with piece of paper stretched tightly across the other end. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting the transferring of thread to the warping frame. Engraving after Daniel Nicolas Chodowiecki (1726-1801) "the Hogarth of Germany".

Modern timpani, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1869.

View of a box for the foundation of the Eiffel Tower by compressed air Section showing the underground work and the access and excavation tubes, France. Old illustration by Louis Poyet (1846-1913) from La Nature 1887

Gassing or singeing cotton thread to remove loose fibres. Engraving, London, 1845.

An engraving depicting part of the laboratory of Ambrosius Gottfried Hankwitz. Dated 18th century

Devices, instrument, jewelry and weapons of African peoples in 1880, Africa / Geräte, Instrument, Schmuck und Waffen der afrikanischen Völker im Jahre 1880, Afrika, Historisch, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert,.

Illustration of an 19th Century mechanical pulley

Inventions, apparatus for knife cleaning, cleaning and sharpening / Erfindungen, Vorrichtung zum Reinigen, Säubern und Schärfen von Messern, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Originaldatum nicht bekannt, Kolorierung, koloriert, handkoloriert, Hand-colouring, hand coloured, colored.

A magic lantern show. The lanterns used differ little from Kircher's in the 17th century, consisting of box with lamp placed at focus of concave mirror. Reflected light falls on condensing lens which concentrates it on a slide. Here two lanterns are being used to give dissolving views. The apparatus is mounted on a wheeled trolley, so that the operator behind the screen can alter the size of the image seen by the audience. From A Ganot Natural Philosophy, London, 1887.

An engraving depicting a folding perambulator which weighed in the region of 15kg. Dated 19th century

Intussusception at ileocecal valve, vintage engraved illustration.

Cannon with quadrant (clinometer) being adjusted to an elevation of 45° for long-range firing. Prom Robert Fludd Utriusque cosmi ... historia, Oppenheim, 1617-19.

An engraving depicting the Bessemer movable converter used in the Bessemer process. Henry Bessemer invented the Bessemer method of making steel. Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) an English inventor. Dated 20th century

Engraving depicting the water going in to (BC) displacing air in (DE) as it passes through pipe (A) and forces air through (FG). Dated 17th Century

Engraving depicting a one candle-power nightlight which could be used in conjunction with a battery or a dynamo.

After baking, the oven is opened, vintage engraving. After baking, the oven is opened, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1857. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10673815

A woodcut engraving depicting tubs used in the process of making beer. Right: a tub for making beer. Left: cooling bath with holes in the top for receiving glass vessels. From Johann Rudolph Glauber 'A Description of New Philosophical Furnaces'. London. Dated 17th century

Engraving depicting various applications of the inclined plane. Dated 19th Century

Engraving depicting a man fascinated by the properties of the pendulum. Dated 19th century

A mortar firing 'partridges', showing the barrel in cross-section. A large bomb was placed in the centre chamber and a number of smaller ones like hand grenades in the surrounding chambers. When fired, the projectiles were hurled towards the target like a covey of partridge. Stipple engraving from 'Encyclopaedia Londinensis' Vol II (London, c1800).

An engraving depicting a folding perambulator which weighed in the region of 15kg. Dated 19th century

The sommelier in his function. Engraving after a woodcut in Sebastian Monster's "Cosmographia universalis", published in Basel in 1552. "Moeurs, usages et costumes au moyen-age et a l'epoque de la Renaissance", by Paul Lacroix. Paris, 1878.

Engraving depicting a victim using a street telescope whilst a pickpocket steals from them in London. Dated 19th Century

An engraving depicting Swan incandescent lamps fitted in the Savoy Theatre, London. Dated 19th century

Press-up machine, an illustration from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, an encyclopedia from 1897

Engraving depicting a spinning top. The top set spinning and disks and outlines of various kinds and patterns can be seen as they spin round. Dated 19th century

A mortar firing 'partridges', showing the barrel in cross-section. A large bomb was placed in the centre chamber and a number of smaller ones like hand grenades in the surrounding chambers. When fired, the projectiles were hurled towards the target like a covey of partridge. Stipple engraving from Encyclopaedia Londinensis Vol II (London, c1800).

Illustration from Theatrum Machinarum Novum 1661 by Georg Andreas Böckler; A hand operated irrigation pump

$An engraving depicting Isaac Newton's experiment showing how a prism refracted a beam of light and broken down into the colours of the spectrum (right). The dotted line indicates the beam of light coming through the window, and the path it would take if not refracted by the prism. Dated 18th century$

The electrical installation in the United States in the late 1800s, manhole for inspection of underground electrical pipelines. USA. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1889

Illustration from Theatrum Machinarum Novum 1661 by Georg Andreas Böckler

Objects from Franklin's lost expedition. Story of Franklin's lost expedition in the Arctic (1786-1847) Old 19th century engraving from Le Tour du Monde 1860

Winding out, removal of the Guinea worm, a parasitic nematode and the causative agent of dracontiasis, from a native in Dahomey, Illustration from 1890, Historical, digital reproduction of an original from the 19th century

Section of the wells Champvert and rescue shaft, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1836.

Illustration showing Investigation of effect of Galvanic electricity using Voltaic pile and a decapitated dog. Mouth opened, teeth gnashed eyes rolled. From Jean Aldini 'Essai Theorique et Experimental sur le Galvanisme', Paris; 1804. Aidini was Galvani's nephew

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