Philip Phillips: The Forth Bridge (1891)

Phillips, Philip. The Forth Bridge, In its Various States of Construction. And compared with the most notable bridges of the world.  (Edinburgh: R. Grant & Son, [1891]). Second edition. 304 p. (i.e., 304 columns of text, with a leaf counting as 4 columns, even with the recto blank), portraits of engineers and contractors, 55 plates (including 7 fold-out ones). 13-1/4" x 17".

Stunning images of the building of the Forth Bridge, a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles west of central Edinburgh, constructed between 1882 and 1890. It is currently the world's second-longest single cantilever span. The last section of the book discusses and pictures numerous bridges from ancient to modern times, from the Bridge of St. Angelo in Rome and the Rialto Bridge in Venice to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Harlem River Bridge. Discreet library stamp on title page, and each plate (not affecting images). Text block tight, but spine missing, and front and rear boards loosely attached. Occasional bends to edges of double plates, and one double plate split along fold; a few tears in pages, and occasional creases.