more. Mr. Dodd acceded to my request; and having completed his part of the work, I subjected it to a careful revision, and added various details which seemed to be necessary to completeness, at least so far as the narrow limits of a small rudimentary work would admit of completeness. The manuscript was then sent to press: each sheet as it was received from the printer was submitted to Mr. Hobbs, who read it with care, and made his annotations and corrections thereon. Mr. Hobbs and I then had a meeting, when the additions and corrections were read and discussed, and admitted or rejected as the case might be. The sheet having been thus corrected was sent to press.
It should also be stated that, during the progress of the work, Mr. Weale, at my request, wrote to Messrs. Bramah, and also to Messrs. Chubb, informing them that a Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks was being prepared, and requesting them to state in writing what alterations or improvements they had made in their locks since the date of the Great Exhibition. The communications which we have received from these celebrated firms are inserted verbatim, in their proper places, in the present work.
Such is the mode in which this small volume has been prepared. I have endeavoured to perform an editor's duty conscientiously, without entertaining the feeling of a partisan in the matter. My chief object in superintending the production of this book (an object in which the Publisher fully participates) is to advance the cause of mechanical science, and to supply a deficiency in one of the most interesting portions of its English literature.
Bedford Place, Ampthill Square,
July 1853.
