An Essay on Wheel Carriages; Containing a Concise View of Their Origin, and a Description of the Variety Now in Use; with Comparative Observations on the Safety of Those Upon Two and Four Wheels

London, printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, 1828. First edition. Octavo. (x), 83pp. Half title present. Seven numbered full page lithographed plates bound after the text, illustrating types of carriages, the mechanical forces bearing on carriage wheels and a form of gimballed axle patented by Fuller. The author is noted on the title page as a coach builder of Bath and at least one online genealogical source states that his coach building business was large enough to have employed 50 men in 1851. He is also described on the title page as the inventor of the patent shafts for two wheeled carriages and the patent locking for those with four. The text is divided into four parts. Part one outlines the history of carriages and their use. Part two goes on to describe the types of carriages in use at the time of writing: Landau, Landaulet, Barouch, Barouchet, Britska and Phaetons. Part three describes the construction methods of two and four wheeled carriages and discusses the relative merits and disadvantages of each as well as of low versus high carriages. The author then continues with a description of his own patent axle which appears to attach to the coach body by what we might now describe as a gimbal mechanism, designed to keep the coach body level when riding over uneven surfaces to prevent the coach overturning when passing over a steep incline. The final part discusses in some detail, the mechanical forces operating on carriage wheels and their axles and the physics involved in creating wheels of an optimum size for a vehicle. All in all, a detailed work presumably aimed squarely at other coach builders. An uncommon publication that rarely appears for sale. Rare Book Hub identifies only three copies offered for sale since 1963, two of which lacked a plate. Bound in contemporary quarter cloth with paper sides and a printed label on the front cover. Ownership signature of Arthur Fuller to the front paste down, almost certainly Thomas’s son Arthur who was born in 1824 and was himself, a coach builder. Minor rubbing to the extremities of the binding. Mild foxing to all of the plates. One plate slightly pulling away from the text block at its gutter. Otherwise, a very clean and well-preserved copy of an uncommon book with the binding in very good condition. Further photographs are available. NB The price of this item is variable dependent on your chosen payment method. Please feel free to make contact for further information and to request additional photographs of this item or to discuss payment options. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.…