Lot 81
Civil engineering and industrial history - Scotland and northern England
Group of prints and plans, mainly 19th century
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
Syer, John. Manchester and the Ship Canal. Glasgow: Maclure, Macdonald & Co., 1887. Chromolithograph, 71 x 102cm, nicks and closed tears to margins (a few tape-repaired on verso);
[Whitby]. Two sheets of designs for Whitby harbour swing bridge by Francis Pickernell, 1833. Pen and ink with watercolour, 64 x 57cm and 26 x 59cm, signed and dated by the engineer, browning, repairs, tipped into custom card portfolio;
[Paper-making]. Three sheets of designs for paper-mill machines, 19th century. Pen and ink with watercolour, each approx. 64 x 98cm, captioned and dated ‘Drying machine, Withenfold paper mill, 1879', ‘10 Cwt patent engine for breaking and bleaching’, dated 1884, for Linwood paper mill, and ‘Details for single cylinder paper machine’, 1874, browning and dust-soiling, repairs verso;
[Edinburgh]. 'Ring Motor Road Bridge No II over the Water of Leith'. Edinburgh: City Engineer's Office, 1945. 2 hand-coloured lithographs, 70 x 103cm, showing elevations, cross-sections and a bird's-eye view, browning, repairs;
[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]. River Tyne Improvement. Plans and Sections of 30 H.P. Condensing Engine proposed to be erected in Howdon-yard. Newcastle: [no publisher], 1862. Chromolithograph, 77 x 114cm, backed on linen;
together with 8 similar plans, including ‘Box for Causeway Mail Collector, Albert Street, Leith Walk’, Edinburgh: Roads Department, 1883, pen and ink with watercolour, 66 x 47cm, dust-soiled, repair verso, a manuscript plan for proposed crossings at Edinburgh station (known as Princes Street Station, now The Caledonian hotel), 1892, and 8 bound volumes, all printed plans or planning documents relating to Edinburgh, 19th and 20th century, including Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Bill, 1920, Plans and Photographs (oblong folio, original cloth, containing large-format gelatin silver print photographs), Edinburgh Corporation … Plan of Edinburgh showing Proposed Extension of Municipal Boundaries, 1901 [cover-title] (folding lithographic map, linen-backed, blue cloth covers to versos of outer panels), Jellicoe & Coleridge, A Plan for the Tollcross Area of Edinburgh prepared for the Edinburgh Corporation, 1965 (tall 8vo, wrappers) and similar (portfolio)
Provenance
From the collection of the late Professor Roland Paxton MBE FICE FRSE (1932-2025), 'Britain's foremost historian of civil engineering' (Telegraph, obituary, 12th November 2025); Professor Paxton was also a leading conservationist of Britain's engineering heritage, and led successful campaigns to restore two of the world's most important railway structures, the Laigh Milton Viaduct in Ayrshire, the world's oldest surviving railway bridge, and the Union Chain Bridge, the world's oldest suspension bridge still carrying road traffic.