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One of the most popular Victorian writers, Samuel Smiles
(1812-1904) made his name in 1859 with the original
self-improvement manual, Self-Help. His highly successful
multi-volume Lives of the Engineers contained biographies of men
who had, like him, achieved greatness not through privilege but
through hard work. In this 1867 book, Smiles examines the part
played in British society and economic life by the Protestants who
either left France to escape religious persecution or were expelled
after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The appeal of
the topic to Smiles probably lay in the proverbial industry and
hard work of these refugees, who arrived penniless but rapidly made
their way to prosperity, to social acceptance, and, in only two or
three generations, to some of the highest positions in the land.
This fascinating work covers the history of the Huguenots and
discusses some of their famous descendants.
One of the most popular and prolific writers during the Victorian
age, Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) emphasised individual responsibility
in the pursuit of personal and social improvement. Among other
titles, his acclaimed Lives of the Engineers (1861-2) and
insightful Autobiography (1905) are also reissued in the Cambridge
Library Collection. He is best known, however, for the present
work. First published in 1859, it sold 20,000 copies in its first
year, more than a quarter of a million by 1905, and was widely
translated. Using hundreds of biographical examples, ranging from
George Stephenson to Josiah Wedgwood, Smiles champions the virtues
of hard work, perseverance and character in achieving success.
While these values appealed to a large readership in the book's
heyday, later critics saw the work as promoting a form of selfish
materialism. However interpreted, this remains a crucial text for
those fascinated by the Victorian drive for self-improvement.
This biography of the civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757 1834) was
published in 1867 by Samuel Smiles (1812 1904), the author of
Self-Help and of other biographies of engineers and innovators.
Smiles had already written about Telford's life and achievements in
Volume 2 of his Lives of the Engineers (which is also reissued in
this series), but in returning to the topic he adds to this new
edition an introductory section (taken from Volume 1 of Lives of
the Engineers) on the history of roads in Britain, from prehistoric
trackways, via the Romans, to the modern road-building system
pioneered by John Metcalf (the extraordinary 'Blind Jack of
Knaresborough') and Telford himself. This illustrated work gives
engaging accounts from earlier writers of the perils of road
travel, and also deals in detail with Telford's own career as a
builder of roads, bridges and canals."
This two-volume account of the life and friendships of the
publisher John Murray (1778-1843), told largely through his
voluminous correspondence, was published in 1891 by Samuel Smiles
(1812-1904), whose Lives of the Engineers, Self-Help, and other
works are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Murray
was only fifteen when his father, the founder of the famous firm,
died, but after a period of apprenticeship he took sole control of
the business, becoming the friend as well as the publisher of a
range of the most important writers of the first half of the
nineteenth century, in both literature and science. Perhaps his
most famous author was Lord Byron, whose memoir of his own life,
considered unpublishable, was burned in the fireplace at Murray's
office in Albemarle Street, London. Volume 1 commences with the
beginnings of the firm in Scotland, and takes the story up to 1818.
This two-volume account of the life and friendships of the
publisher John Murray (1778-1843), told largely through his
voluminous correspondence, was published in 1891 by Samuel Smiles
(1812-1904), whose Lives of the Engineers, Self-Help, and other
works are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Murray
was only fifteen when his father, the founder of the famous firm,
died, but after a period of apprenticeship he took sole control of
the business, becoming the friend as well as the publisher of a
range of the most important writers of the first half of the
nineteenth century, in both literature and science. Perhaps his
most famous author was Lord Byron, whose memoir of his own life,
considered unpublishable, was burned in the fireplace at Murray's
office in Albemarle Street, London. Volume 2 describes innovations
including the famous travel guides, and ends with an assessment of
Murray's publishing career.
One of the most popular Victorian writers, Samuel Smiles (1812
1904) made his name in 1859 with the original self-improvement
manual Self-Help. His highly successful multi-volume Lives of the
Engineers (also reissued in this series) contained biographies of
men who had, like him, achieved greatness not through privilege but
through hard work. Left incomplete at his death, edited by the
social theorist Thomas Mackay (1849 1912) and first published in
1905, his autobiography opens with a vivid description of the
Scottish garrison town of his birth during the Napoleonic wars. In
his later years he was a vocal supporter of state education, and
the value of education was a constant theme throughout his life. He
remembers his schooldays here with clarity, writing that 'a good
education is equivalent to a good fortune'. Straightforward and
unpretentious, this book will be of interest to historians and
readers fascinated by the Victorian drive for self-improvement.
A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was also
a noted biographer in the Victorian period. Following the
engineer's death in 1848, Smiles published his highly successful
Life of George Stephenson in 1857 (also reissued in this series).
His interest in engineering evolved and he began working on
biographies of Britain's most notable engineers from the Roman to
the Victorian era. Originally published in three volumes between
1861 and 1862, this work contains detailed and lively accounts of
the educations, careers and pioneering work of seven of Britain's
most accomplished engineers. These volumes stand as a remarkable
undertaking, advancing not only the genre, but also the author's
belief in what hard work could achieve. Volume 1 charts the
engineering of early roads, embankments, bridges, harbours and
ferries, as well as the lives of the engineers Sir Hugh Myddelton
(c.1560-1631) and James Brindley (1716-72).
A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was also
a noted biographer in the Victorian period. Following the
engineer's death in 1848, Smiles published his highly successful
Life of George Stephenson in 1857 (also reissued in this series).
His interest in engineering evolved and he began working on
biographies of Britain's most notable engineers from the Roman to
the Victorian era. Originally published in three volumes between
1861 and 1862, this work contains detailed and lively accounts of
the educations, careers and pioneering work of seven of Britain's
most accomplished engineers. These volumes stand as a remarkable
undertaking, advancing not only the genre, but also the author's
belief in what hard work could achieve. Volume 2 includes accounts
of the lives of three important engineers of the eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries: John Smeaton (1724-92), John Rennie
(1761-1821) and Thomas Telford (1757-1834).
A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was also
a noted biographer in the Victorian period. Following the
engineer's death in 1848, Smiles published his highly successful
Life of George Stephenson in 1857 (also reissued in this series).
His interest in engineering evolved and he began working on
biographies of Britain's most notable engineers from the Roman to
the Victorian era. Originally published in three volumes between
1861 and 1862, this work contains detailed and lively accounts of
the educations, careers and pioneering work of seven of Britain's
most accomplished engineers. These volumes stand as a remarkable
undertaking, advancing not only the genre, but also the author's
belief in what hard work could achieve. Volume 3 includes a revised
version of Smiles's biography of George Stephenson (1781-1848), as
well as a biography of his equally famous son, Robert (1803-59).
A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812 1904) was also
a noted biographer in the Victorian period, paying particular
attention to engineers. His first biography was of George
Stephenson (1781 1848), whom he met at the opening of the North
Midland Railway in 1840. After Stephenson died, Smiles wrote a
memoir of him for Eliza Cook's Journal. With the permission of
Stephenson's son, Robert, this evolved into the first full
biography of the great engineer, published in 1857 and reissued
here in its revised third edition. This detailed and lively account
of Stephenson's life, which proved very popular, charts his
education and youth, his crucial contribution to the development of
Britain's railways, and his relationships with many notables of the
Victorian world. It remains of interest to the general reader as
well as historians of engineering, transport and business.
This autobiography was first published in 1883, and recounts the
life of the Scottish scientist and inventor James Nasmyth
(1808-1890), who was arguably the last of the early pioneers of the
machine tool industry, most famously remembered for his invention
of the steam hammer. He also produced and manufactured several
other important machine tools, including a hydraulic press which
used water pressure to force tight-fitting machine parts together.
All of these machines became popular in manufacturing, and all are
still in use today in modified forms. Nasmyth retired from business
in 1856 at the age of just 48, and pursued his various hobbies
including astronomy; he was co-author of The Moon: Considered as a
Planet, a World, and a Satellite (1874) with James Carpenter. This
autobiography follows a chronological order, and a list of
Nasmyth's inventions is given at the end of the book.
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Lives of the Engineers
Samuel Smiles
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R1,764
R1,659
Discovery Miles 16 590
Save R105 (6%)
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