A History of Coal, Coke and Coal Fields and the Manufacture of Iron in the North of England (1860)

This is a facsimile edition of a mid-19th century elephant folio treatise on coalmining and iron manufacture in Northern England. Relevant in today's environmental crisis, the original was particularly famous for its reproduction of a series of fine engravings by Thomas Hair, which had been published earlier but which Fordyce republished without acknowledgment.

Plastic-protected illustrated matt salmon dustjacket printed in black and blue, with publisher's list on the back, green cloth-boards, gilt to the spine, iv + frontispiece double-page map of the north of England showing the geology and mineralogy at a scale of 12 inches to the mile + 165 pp of text, including figures and tables in the text, on heavy wove paper, + 32 inserted pp of b/w engravings of mining and iron-making - on smooth paper.

CONDITION. The dustjacket is unmarked and at least very good under its plastic protection, both the cover boards are rubbed near the top and bottom and the spine is bumped at the foot. There is an ink inscription on the front free endpaper. A few early and late leaves are lightly foxed and there are a few foxing spots on the page edges. The contents, including the bright monochrome plates, are complete and otherwise unmarked and undiscoloured.