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ALABONE, EDWIN W. Multo-Epicycloidal and other Geometric Curves.
London, John Swain and Son, Ltd. [1910]. First edition; 8vo; original burgundy morocco-grain cloth. Gilt titles to spine and upper board. Photographic print of the author with his Epicycloidal Geometric Chuck and 77 colour plates. Author's presentation inscription to opening blank page, with original mechanical drawing in ink, dated 1901 (sic). Inscribed "to W H Willcox with the author's compliments 1901." Alabone was a medical doctor with a specialism in consumption, a subject on which he published a number of books. He took up the hobby of producing these stunning drawings by mechanical means and was persuaded to publish them by his friends, including Prof. Richard Kerr who wrote the introduction. Willcox was Physician to St Mary's Hospital, London, where he lectured on chemical pathology, forensic medicine and related subjects. As scientific analyst and honorary medical adviser to the Home Office, he was associated with many famous criminal trials, and became widely known to the British public in the early years of the twentieth century. The drawings take as there starting point patterns in nature, but their evolution to the patterns illustrated here involved calculations and the construction of a machine consisting of a series of tiers or planes of wheels rising vertically in parallel order. The introduction states that "when in motion all traces of friction are absent, so true is every detail of every wheel, of every cog, of every screw." Very good, some slight wear to the extremities, foxing to the preliminaries but the plates are unaffected. A strange and beautiful book.
Offered for GBP 1250.00 = appr. US$ 2045.00 by: York Modern Books - Book number: 1598