Pictorial History of The Great Eastern Steam-Ship

London: W.H. Smith and Son, [1859/1860] . Cloth. Very Good. 16.5" by 12". Not Stated. A very scarce, beautifully illustrated history of the construction of the SS Great Eastern, the largest ship ever built at the time of her launch. A richly illustrated construction history of the largest ship in the world, the Great Eastern, a 211 meter long sailing steamer designed by the British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, with a capacity for carrying 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling.The ship was launched in January 1858, and is immortalized in literature in Jules Verne's novel 'Une Ville Flottante'.Illustrated with three vibrant chromolithographs - including a folding frontispiece after Edwin Weedon - and five further steel-engraved folding plates, with numerous further vignettes. Collated, complete.Undated; this work is consistently identified as being published in either 1859 or 1860.With the bookplate of Marshall Laird to the front pastedown, and inscription to front free endpaper.A beautiful celebration of one of the major achievements of Kingdom Brunel, the British civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is viewed as one of the most important and innovative individuals during the Industrial Revolution. Rebound in quarter cloth bindings with marbled paper covered boards. Endpapers renewed. Externally, fine. Bookplate to front pastedown, inscription to front free endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Large closed tear to one fold of first folding plate. Closed tear neatly repaired to one steel-engraved folding plate. Pages generally clean and bright, with the odd spot. Significant spotting to plate perimeters. Very Good