Telephony Class. A Course. [drop-head title].

12mo, pp. 274, [1]. Numerous illustrations, some full-page, included within pagination. Contemporary red textured cloth, front board and spine lettered direct in gilt. Some leaves vertically creased, one leaf proud from textblock. A little marked, a touch rubbed to extremities. Ownership inscription of Leonard C. May dated 1893 to flyleaf, his initials lettered in gilt to front board, small ownership stamp of A. N. Emmerson to pastedown. A seemingly unrecorded production, identified in a pencilled note on the pastedown as an internal course for employees of the National Telephone Company. The creasing and single larger leaf containing a close-trimmed illustration suggest that it was issued unbound, but then the initials ?L.C.M.? on the front board, with lettering matching that on the spine, indicate it was also bound for the original owner, Leonard May - indications it was not published in normal fashion, at least. The date of May?s ownership inscription is likely that of the production: The National Telephone Company was formed in 1881 and absorbed into the GPO in 1911. We have been unable to trace any copies in any institutions worldwide, which is unsurprising for an internal training document, although the BT Archives hold the company's papers and possibly a copy. The contents are divided into 14 papers, with continuous pagination and no title-page. As befits the early days of telephony they comprise a detailed treatise on electrical engineering, with lengthy sections on batteries, electro-magnetism and acoustics.…