Lot 227
Harris, John
Lexicon technicum
Auction: From the Library of Professor Roland Paxton | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 221 to 252
Description
… or, An Universal Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences. London: printed for Dan. Goodwin, Tim. Goodwin [et al.], 1708-10. 2 volumes (volume 1 reissue of the 1708 second edition with cancel title-page in red and black, volume 2 first edition), folio (32.2 x 19cm), contemporary panelled sprinkled calf, raised bands, engraved portrait frontispiece, 14 engraved plates (some folded), numerous woodcut illustrations, joints of both volumes cracked, spine label for volume 2 missing, boards scuffed and with light staining, title label from endpapers from volume 1 missing, list of subscribers bound in volume 1, internally very clean [ESTC T142406 & T142408];
[Howard, George Selby et al.]. The New Royal Cyclopaedia, and Encyclopaedia; or, Complete Modern and Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. London : printed for Alex. Hogg, [1788?]. 3 volumes, first edition, folio (41 x 25.4cm), contemporary reverse calf with blindstamped design on margins of boards, rebacked with raised bands and red title labels, engraved frontispieces to each volume, 161 of 163 plates listed in instructions to the binder (plates 73 and 147 are missing) covering machinery, shipping, astronomy, natural history etc., list of subscribers at end of volume 3, a few leaves and plates torn and creased, boards worn and stained, joints cracking, frontispiece to volume 2 and frontispiece and title leaf to volume 3 detached, corner tips worn [ESTC T128978] (5)
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.
Footnote
John Harris (1667?-1719) was a clergyman, mathematician, and (from 1709) secretary of the Royal Society. His Lexicon technicum, published by subscription, is regarded as the first technical encyclopaedia in any language. Isaac Newton was one of the subscribers and it 'became one of the first books to display the importance to the public of Newton's science, and which has since been regarded a prototype of the more famous dictionaries and encyclopaedias of the Enlightenment' (ODNB).