Description
Autograph manuscript of "The Iron Horse, or life on the Line. A Tale of the Grand National Trunk Railway", 8vo, pp. [2]-70, 1-29, 71-322. Unbound, 1871, manuscript with a mock-up title page by Ballantyne (with instructions to the printer on font size) and is initialled and dated Edinburgh 16 August 1871 at the end. The extra 20 page section in the pagination is an "aside" by Ballantyne on the history of the "Iron-Horse". Probably written after the main manuscript was completed, Ballantyne instructs the printer to confirm it will be inserted in the correct place, heavily corrected and amended by the author, title page a little dusty, glue stain to the last leaf
Footnote
Note: "The Iron Horse, or Life on the Line" was published in 1871 (see Quayle 42a) in an edition of two thousand five hundred copies and enjoyed a large success. In order to acquire his customary insight into the workings of his subject before beginning writing, Ballantyne obtained permission from the Board of Directors to travel on the footplate of the Edinburgh-to-London express and back again. After helping the fireman shovel coal into the firebox, he was permitted to operate the controls for the last part of the return trip. As Quayle notes in "Ballantyne the Brave" (Hart-Davis, 1967), Ballantyne packed into the novel "a vast assortment of dramatic incidents", including the detection of thieves who preyed on the goods carried by the train, last minute rescues from the path of oncoming engines, several railway accidents, the loss and recovery of a diamond ring, "all woven into a factual account of the working of the British railway system and its effect upon the nation's economy"