Description

First edition of Alan Stevenson’s 1835 book, Report to the Committee of the Commissioners of Northern Lights, Appointed to take into consideration the subject of Illuminating the Lighthouses by Means of Lenses. Edinburgh: printed by Neill and Company, MDCCCXXXV.

The book contains six plates drawn by Allan Stevenson when he was in Paris at the office of M. Fresnel, drawn by Steveson, he copied them from Fresnel’s original in 1834, as denoted to the foot of five of the plates. In 1834 Alan travelled to France to learn from the Fresnel brothers, Augustin and Léonor. While there, he learned of Fresnel’s dioptric apparatus which used lenses instead of mirrors to focus light and could therefore produce a more intense beam. He subsequently introduced this form of lighting to Scottish lighthouses, beginning with the light at Inchkeith in 1835.

Description of plates.

PLATE I: CORDOUAN LIGHTHOUSE

PLATE II: Revolving Dioptric Light of the First Order. Vertical Section.

PLATE III: Revolving Dioptric Light of the First Order. Plan.

PLATE IV: Fixed Dioptric Light of the First Order. Vertical Section.

PLATE V: Fixed Dioptric Light of the First Order. Plan

PLATE VI: Catadioptric Light of the Fourth order, Varied by Flashes. Vertical Section.

29 x 23 cm.

Condition: The book is in its original binding, quarter Morocco over cloth with green paper label, hinges split, with spotting.

Provenance: Stevenson family by descent, there are some notes in pencil in the margins, believed to be written by Allan Stevenson, or his brother David Stevenson.

Alan Stevenson FRSE MInstCE (1807 – 1865) was a Scottish civil engineer, known for designing and building lighthouses in and around Scotland, with his father, Robert Stevenson and brothers David and Thomas, he was part of the notable family of Engineers and lighthouse builders. The writer Robert Louis Stevenson was his nephew. Between 1843 and 1853 he built 13 lighthouses in and around Scotland. Among his notable works is the Skerryvore Lighthouse. He was Engineer in Chief to the Northern Lighthouse Board from 1843 to 1853.