General Category > Outside Links & Suggested Reading
Steam Engine Book List (old books in the public domain)
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PatJ:
The following is a list of public domain steam engine books I have found online in pdf format (back when you could freely download pdf open-source books).
They are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name.
I have flipped through all of them, and read large parts of some of the better ones.
This is a vast subject, and one has only to read one of the better books in this list to realize how difficult it is to reach a good understanding of steam engine development from about 1800 to about 1920.
I need to update this list since I have collected a few more since I found these.
I have some hardback books which I will add to this list.
Ahrons, E. L.,
"Steam Engine Valves and Valve Gears",
Sir Issacc Pitman & Sons, Ltd., 1921.
Alban, Ernst,
"The High Pressure Steam Engine",
London: John Weale, 1858.
Aldrich & Donaldson (a monthly publication),
"Marine Engineering, A Monthly Publication Devoted to Vessel Construction
and Propulsion and Allied Interests",
Aldrich & Donaldson, 1899.
Atherton, Charles,
"On Marine Engine Construction and Classification",
London: John Weale, 1851.
Barnes, David Leonard,
"Electric Locomotives - Baldwin Locomotive Works",
Burnham, Williams & Co., 1896.
Barr, John H.,
"Elements of Machine Design",
John Wiley & Sons, 1911.
Benjamin, Charles H.,
"The Steam Engine, A Concise Treatise for Students and Engineers",
The Technical Press, 1909.
Bennett, Frank M.,
"The Monitor and The Navy Under Steam",
Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900.
Bird, Geo Fredk,
"The Locomotives of the Great Northern Railroad",
The Locomotive Publishing Co., Ltd., 1903.
Borne, John,
"Handbook of the Steam-Engine",
D. Appleton and Company, 1865.
Burgh, N. P.,
"Modern Marine Engineering Illustrated",
E & F. N. Spon, 1867.
Burnham, George, Jr.
"Baldwin Locomotive Works, Illustrated Catalogue of Narrow-Gauge
Locomotives. Adapted Especially to Gauges of 3 feet and 6 inches or one meter",
Burnham, Williams & Co., 1900.
Burn, Robert Scott,
"The Steam-Engine: Its History and Mechanism",
Ward and Lock, 1857.
Busley, Carl,
"The Marine Steam Engine, its Construction, Action, and Management",
Kiel and Leipzig, 1902.
Carnegie, Andrew,
"James Watt",
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905.
Clark, Daniel K.:
"The Exhibited Machinery of 1862: A Cyclopedia of the Machinery
Represented at the International Exhibition",
Day & Sons, 1862.
Clark, Daniel K.:
"An Elementary Treatise on Steam and the Steam-Engine, Stationary and Portable",
Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1885.
Clark, Daniel K.:
"The Steam Engine: A Treatise on Steam Engines and Boilers",
Blackie & Son, 1890.
Clark, Daniel K.:
"Tramways, Their Construction and Working (locomotives, rolling stock,
traction,electric traction, steam)",
Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1894.
Collins, Hubert E.:
"Shaft Governors, Centrifugal and Inertia",
Hill Publishing Company, 1908.
Colyer, Frederick:
"A Treatise on Modern Steam Engines and Boilers, Including Land,
Locomotive, and Marine Engines and Boilers",
E. & F.N. Spon, 1886.
Colyer, Frederick:
"Treatise on the Working Management of Steam Boilers and Engines,
Shafting, Gear, and Machinery",
E. & F.N. Spon, 1892.
Cotterill, James, H.:
"The Steam Engine Considered as a Thermodynamic Machine",
E. & F. N. Spon, 1896.
Croft, Terrell:
"Steam-Engine Principles and Practice",
McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., 1922.
Dalby, W.E.:
"Valves and Valve Gear Mechanisms",
Edward Arnold Pub., 1906.
The first paragraph of the preface describes the goal of the book:
"Valve gear mechanisms have facinated successive generations of engineers, and, if the truth were known,
there are few mechanical engineers who have not at some time or other tried to invent a new gear.
In consequence, the number of valve gears described in the Patent Office Specifications, and indeed the
number of different types which have been actually made, is exceedingly great. My object is not to
enumerate these, nor even to enumerate all the types which are in actual work at the present time, but
rather to to select a few typical gears, well tried, and to some extent representing the survival of the
fittest types, and to examine them thoroughly and by methods which may generally be applied to all kinds
of gear similar to those chosen".
W.E. Dalby, M.A.
Dalby, W.E.:
"Steam Power",
Longmans, Green & Co., 1915.
Dalby, W.E.:
"The Balancing of Engines",
Edward Arnold, 1906.
Derr, Louis:
"Cyclopedia of Engineering",
Chicago Amererican Technical Society, 1915.
Dunlap, John:
"The Engineering Magazine, an Industrial Review, Vol. XXVIII, October, 1904 to March 1905",
New York The Engineering Magazine, 1904.
Edwards, Emory:
"Modern American Locomotive Engines; Design, Construction and Management",
Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1895.
Edwards, Emory:
"The Practical Steam Engineer's Guide in the Design, Construction and Management of
American Stationary, Portable and Steam Fire-Engines, Steam Pumps, Boilers, Injectors,
Governors, Indicators, Pistons and Rings, Safety Valves, and Steam Gauges",
Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1890.
Edwards, Emory:
"A Catechism of the Marine Steam Engine",
Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1898.
Evers, Henry,
"Steam and the Steam Engine: Land, Marine and Locomotive",
Williams Collins, Sons & Company, 1878.
Fehrenbatch, John:
"A Library of Steam Engineering",
The Ohio Valley Company, 1900.
Finlay, Water Stevenson:
"The Effect of Superheated Steam on Cylinder Condensation in a Corliss Steam Engine",
Sibley College - Cornell University, 1904.
Frick Company:
"The Story of Frick Refrigerating, Air Conditioning, Farm and Sawmill Machinery",
Frick Company, 1952.
Gebhardt, G. F.,
"Steam Power Plant Engineering",
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1913.
Graham, Frank D.,
"Audel's Power Plant Engineer's Guide",
Theo Audel & Co., 1945.
Graham, Frank D.,
"Audel's New Marine Engineers Guide",
Theo Audel & Co.
Greenly, Henry,
"The Model Locomotive, Its Design and Construction",
Percival Marshall & Co., 1904.
Greenly, Henry,
"Model Engineering - A Guide to Model Workshop Practice",
Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1915.
Graham, Frank D.:
"Audel's Engineers and Mechanic's Guide 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6",
Theo Audel & Co., 1921
(Guide No.2 contains an engraving of a Dake steam engine)
Grimshaw, Robert:
"Supplement to the Steam Engine Catechism",
John Wiley & Sons, 1888.
Grimshaw, Robert:
"The Steam Engine Catechism",
Norman W. Henley & Co., 1896.
Grimshaw, Robert:
"The Engine Runner's Catechism",
John Wiley & Sons, 1895.
Hall, W. B.:
"Measuring Steam Engine Performance",
(Computer tests and plots of steam engine performance).
Hamkens, H.,
"Steam Engine Troubles",
The Norman W. Henley Publishing Co., 1919.
Hawkins, N.:
"New Catechism of the Steam Engine, with Chapters on Gas, Oil and Hot Air Engines",
Theo Audel & Co., 1904.
Header, Herman, Powles, H.H.P.,
"A Handbook on the Steam Engine with Special References to Small and Medium-Sized Engines",
D. Van Nostrand Company, 1902.
Heck, Robert,
"The Steam-Engine and Other Steam-Motors",
D. Van Nostrand Company, 1905.
Henthorn, John T., Thurber, Charles D.:
"The Corliss Engine and Its Management",
Spon & Chamberlain, 1902.
Hirshfeld, C.F., Ulbricht, T.C.:
"Steam Power",
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1916.
Page 92 has a good Classification of the various types of steam
engines that have been produced.
Hiscox, Gardner D.,
"Mechanical Movements, Power Devices and Appliances",
Norman W. Henley & Company, 1903.
Hiscox, Gardner D.,
"Modern Steam Engineering in Theory and Practice",
The Norman W. Henley Publishing Company, 1907.
Hodge, P. R.:
"The Steam Engine, Its Origin and Gradual Improvement,
from the Time of Hero to the Present Day",
D. Appleton & Co., 1840.
Holmes, George C. V.:
"The Steam Engine",
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1895.
Hopkinson J., & Co.,
"Engineer's Practical Guide, and the Workings of the Steam Engine, Explained
by the Use of the Indicator, 7th Ed.", 1875.
Howell, Foster G.,
"Steam Vessels and Marine Engines",
The American Shipbuilders, 1896.
Hutton, Frederic R.:
"The Mechanical Engineering of Power Plants",
John Wiley & Sons, 1897.
(Contains an engraving for a Dake Engine with a written discription)
Industrial Press,
"Steam Engineering - Index to Vol. 10, September 1899 to August 1990",
The Industrial Press, New York, 1990.
I.C.S. Staff,
"Steam Engines, Engine Governors",
International Textbook Company.
James, Walter H., Dole, Myron W.:
"Mechanisms of Steam Engines",
John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1914.
Jamieson, Andrew:
"A Textbook on Steam and Steam-Engines",
Charles Griffin and Company, 1889.
John Williams and Co., London,
"The Student's Guide to the Locomotive Engine", 1849.
Jones, Franklin D.,
"Mechanisms and Mechanical Movements",
The Industrial Press, New York, 1919.
Kent, William,
"The Mechanical Engineer's Pocket-Book",
John Wiley & Sons, 1903.
Klein, J.F.:
"Design of a High Speed Steam Engine",
D. Van Nostrand Company, 1903.
Knight, Edward H.,
"Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary",
Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
Kunhardt, C. P.,
"Steam Yachts and Launches; Their Machinery and Management. A Review",
Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 1887.
Langmaid, J., Gaisford, H.:
"Elementary Lessons in Steam Machinery and the Marine Steam Engine,
with a Short Description of the Construction of a Battleship",
Macmillan and Co., 1901.
Lardner, Dionysius:
"Poplar Lectures on the Steam Engine",
John Taylor publisher, 1828.
Lardner, Dionysius:
"The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated",
Taylor and Walton, 1840.
Lisk, J. P.:
"ABC of The Steam Engine, with a Description of the Automatic Governor",
Spon & Chamberlain, 1902.
Locomotive Engineering,
"Locomotive Engineering, A Practical Journal of Railway and Rolling Stock -
Technical Index, Vol. 9",
1896.
Ludy, Llewellyn V.:
"Steam Engines",
American Technical Society, 1917.
Main Thomas J., Brown, Thomas,
"The Marine Steam Engine. Designed chiefly for the use of Officers of Her
Majesty's Navy:,
Woodward, Common, Hard., 1852.
Marine Engineering,
"Index to Marine Engineering, Volumn VIII, January to December, 1903",
Marine Engineering, Incorporated, New York, 1903.
Milne, John,
"A Practical View of the Steam Engine; Illustrated by Engravings of the Largest
Machine in Scotland",
A. Balfour and Co., 1830.
Meyer, J.G.A.,
"Modern Locomotive Construction",
John Wiley and Sons, 1892.
Neal, George William:
"The Marine Engineer, A Monthly Journal of Marine Engineering, Shipbuilding,
Steam Navigation & Electrical Engineering", 1893.
Pambour, Comte De:
"The Theory of the Steam Engine",
London: John Weale, 1889.
Peabody, Cecil H.:
"Valve-Gears for Steam-Engines",
John Wiley & Sons, 1901.
Peabody, Cecil H.:
"The Steam-Engine Indicator",
John Wiley & Sons, 1900.
Perry, John:
"The Steam Engine and Gas and Oil Engines",
Macmillan and Co., 1902.
Porter, Charles T.:
"Engineering Reminiscences contributed to 'Power' and 'American Machinist' ",
John Wiley & Sons, 1908.
Reid, Hugo:
"The Steam-Engine",
Edinburg, 1838.
Reynolds, Michael:
"Stationary Engine Driving, A Practical Manual for Engineers in Charge of Stationary Engines",
Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1881.
Reynolds, Michael:
"Locomotive-Engine Driving, A Practical Manual for Engineers in Charge Locomotive Engines",
Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1877.
Roper, Stephen,
"A Catechism of High Pressure or Non-Condensing Steam Engines",
Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1874.
Rose, Joshua:
"The Complete Practical Machinist: Embracing Lathe Work, Vise Work, Drills and Drilling,
Taps and Dies, Hardening and Tempering, Tool Grinding, Marking Out Work, Etc.",
Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1887.
Rose, Joshua:
"Key to Engines and Engine-Running. A Practical Treatise Upon the Management of Steam
Engines and Boilers for the Use of Those Who Desire to Pass an Examination to Take Charge
of an Engine or Boiler",
D. Van Nostrand Company, 1899.
Rose, Joshua,
"Modern Steam Engines",
Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1893.
Rose, Joshua,
"Steam Boilers: A Practical Treatise on Boiler Construction and Examination",
Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1888.
Saxby, S. M.:
"The Study of Steam and the Marine Engine",
Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1862.
Scranton International Texbook Company:
"Valve Gears, Mechanics of the Steam Engine, Steam-Engine Governors, Steam-Engine Design,
Types of Steam Boilers, Boiler Fittings and Accessories, Boiler Settings and Chimneys,
Boiler Piping and Auxiliaries, Fuels and Boiler Trials, Steam-Boiler Design",
Scranton, International Textbook Company, 1907.
Scranton International Texbook Company:
"Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Hydraulics, Elementary Chemistry, Heat, Entropy and Steam,
Steam-Engine Mechanism, Steam-Engine Indicators and Diagrams, Simple Non-Condensing
Steam Engines, Compound and Condensing Engines, Steam Turbines",
Scranton, International Textbook Company, 1908.
Scranton International Textbook Company,
"International Library of Technology, Steam Engines, Elevators".
Seaton, A. E.:
"A Manual of Marine Engineering: Comprising the Designing, Construction,
and Working of Marine Machinery",
Charles Griffin & Company, 1890.
Sennett, Richard, Oram, Henry:
"The Marine Steam Engine",
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1913.
Shealy, E. M.:
"Steam Engines",
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1919.
Shillitto, F. W.:
"Handbook of Corliss Steam Engines",
The American Industrial Publishing Co., 1899.
Smith, Chas A.,
"Steam Using; or Steam Engine Practice",
The American Engineer, 1885.
Seaton, A.E.:
"A Manual of Marine Engineering",
Charles Griffin & Company, 1890.
Snow, Water B., Leland, Walter S.:
"The Steam Engine",
Chicago American School of Correspondence, 1908.
Sothern, J.W.M.,
"Verbal Notes and Sketches for Marine Engineer Officers, A Manual
of Steam Engineering Practice - Vol. 1 & 2",
revised by J.K. Bowden, 18th Ed., James Munro & Company, Ltd., Date ?.
Spangler, H.W., Greene, Authur M., Marshall, S.M.,
"Elements of Steam Engineering",
John Wiley & Sons, 1910.
Stuart, Robert:
"A Descriptive History of the Steam Engine",
John Knight and Henry Lacey, 1824.
Stuart, Robert:
"Historical and Descriptive Anecdotes of Steam Engines and of Their Inventors and Improvers",
Wightman and Cramp, Paternoster, Row, 1829.
Stumf, J.:
"The Una-Flow Steam-Engine",
Constable & Company Ltd., 1912.
Thurston, Robert H.:
"Stationary Steam Engines especially adapted to Electric Lighting Purposes",
John Wiley and Sons, 1888.
Thurston, Robert H.:
"The Developement of the Philosophy of the Steam-Engine, A Historical Sketch",
John Wiley & Sons, 1889.
Thurston, Robert H.:
"A History of the Growth of the Steam Engine",
D. Appleton and Company, 1897.
Tredgold, Thomas:
"The Steam Engine",
J.Taylor, 1827.
Tribe, James:
"Compound Corliss Engines",
James Tribe, 1903.
Tulley, Henry C.,
"Handbook on Engineering, The Practical Care and Management of Dynamos,
Motors, Boilers, Engines, Pumps, Inspirators and Injectors, Refrigerating
Machinery, Hydraulic Elevators, Electric Elevators, Air Compressors, Rope
Transmission and All Branches of Steam Engineering",
Henry C. Tulley & Co., 1902.
Unwin, Cawthorne, W.:
"The Elements of Machine Design, Part II, Chiefly on Engine Details",
Longmans, Green and Co., 1891.
Wakeman, W. H.:
"Modern Examinations of Steam Engines, or Practical Theory Explained
and Illustrated, Written for Engineers by an Engineer",
American Industrial Publishing Co., 1895.
Walker, Sidney F.,
"Steam Boilers, Engines and Turbines",
Harper & Brothers, 1908.
Washington Government Printing Office,
"Reports of the United States Commisioners to the Paris Universal
Exposition, 1878, Volume IV",
1880.
Whitman, Jay M.:
"Steam-Engine Design for the use of Mechanical Engineers,
Students, and Draughtsmen, Third Edition",
John Wiley and Sons, 1891.
Wood, W.W.:
"The Walschaert Locomotive Valve Gear",
The Norman W. Henley Publishing Co., 1906.
Yeo, John:
"Steam and the Marine Steam-Engine",
Macmillan and Co., 1894.
Yoder, Jacob H., Wharen, George B.:
"Locomotive Valves and Valve Gears",
D. Van Nostrand Company, 1917.
b.lindsey:
That is quite an extensive list Pat. Thanks for putting it together!
Bill
PatJ:
Thanks Bill-
I was rather naive about steam engine design when I starting reading about them a few years ago,.
I figured I could read a few books and have a pretty good feel for most steam engine designs.
Now I realize how many technical advances in steam engine design were compressed into a very short span of time, and I also realize that most times all I can do is make comparisions and try and ask intelligent questions.
In the last few years I have focused on the "modern" high speed steam engine designs; ie: 150-300 rpm which were developed toward the end of the 1800's.
These are a very robust and hearty class of working engines, but they still have the older look and feel to them that seemed to have gotten lost once the crankcases got closed in and everything started to resemble an internal combustion engine.
Pat J
PatJ:
Here is a list of the steam books I have in hard copy.
I have tried to get out of the habit of owning hard copies of books, since they take up so much space, but I do own a few.
"Horseless Vehicles, Automobiles, Motor Cycles", Garner D. Hiscox, M.E., Munn & Company,
1900, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"The Modern Steam Car and its Background", Thomas S. Derr, 1934, Floyd Clymer, reprinted
by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Modern Steam Engines", Joshua Rose, M.E., Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1887, reprinted by
Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Simple Non-Condensing Steam Engines, Compound and Condensing Engines", International
Textbook Company, 1906, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"New Catechism of the Steam Engine", N. Hawkins, M.E., 1904, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Non-Condensing High Pressure Steam Engines", Stephen Roper, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Steam-Engine Design", International Correspondence Schools, 1896, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Collecting and Restoring Old Steam Engines", Richard J. Evans, Tab Books, Inc., 1980.
"Model Steam Engines", Bob Gordon, Shire Publications, Ltd.
"Model Engine Construction", J. Alexander, Whittaker and Co., 1894, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"The Model Engineer's Handybook", Paul N. Hasluck, Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1918, reprinted by
Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Model Engineering - A Guide to Model Workshop Practice", Henry Greenly, Cassell and Company, Ltd.,
1915, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Model Engines and Small Boats", Nevil Monroe Hopkins, D. Van Nostrand Company, 1898, reprinted by
Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Model Making", Raymond Francis Yates, 1925, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Ames Iron Works Engines and Boilers", Oswego, N.Y., 1910.
"Bates-Corliss, Bates Machine Company", Joliet, Illinois, 1893.
"Steam-Engine Governors", International Correspondence Schools, International Texbook Company,
1906, reprinted by Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"CASE Steam Engine Manual", J.I. Case Company, Racine Wisconsin.
"Modern Locomotive Construction", J.G.A. Meyer, John Wiley and Sons, 1892, reprinted by
Lindsay Publications, Inc.
"Early American Locomotives", John H. White, Jr., Chairman, Dept. of Industries, Smithsonian
Institution, Dover Publications, Inc., 1972.
"Home Made Steam Engines, Volume 1 - The Wobblers", Edward G. Warren, Camelback Books, 1998.
"Audel's Power Plant Engineer's Guide", Frank D. Graham, Theo Audel & Co., 1945.
"Templeton's Engineer, Millwright and Mechanic's Pocket Companion", Julius W. Adams, Engineer,
3rd Ed., D. Appleton & Co., 1851.
"The Steam Engineer's Handbook", International Correspondence Schools, 1st Ed., 1913.
"Audel's Engineers and Mechanic's Guide 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6", Frank D. Graham, B.S., M.S., M.E.,
Graduate of Princton University, Theo Audel & Co., 1921.
"A Catechism of the Marine Steam Engine", Emory Edwards, Mechanical Engineer, Henry Carey
Baird & Co., 1898.
"River Draft", The Waterways Journal, Inc., 1969.
"Machining Fundamentals", John R. Walker, The Goodheart-Willcox Company, Inc., 1973.
"Machine Tool Technology", Willard J. McCarthy, Robert E. Smith, McKnight & McKnight Publishing Co., 1968.
"Technical Drawing", 7th Ed., Frederick E. Giesecke, Alva Mitchell, Henry Cecil Spencer, Ivan Leroy Hill,
John Thomas Dygdon, Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc., 1980.
Machinery's Handbook, Twentieth Edition, 1976, Industrial Press, Inc.
"The Steam Engine", Water B. Snow, S.B., M.E. & Walter S. Leland, S.B., Assistant Professor of
Naval Architectur, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., Chicago Technical World
Magazine, 1908.
"Verbal Notes and Sketches for Marine Engineer Officers, A Manual of Steam Engineering Practice -
Vol. 1", J.W.M. Sothern, revised by J.K. Bowden, 18th Ed., James Munro & Company, Ltd., Date ?.
"Verbal Notes and Sketches for Marine Engineer Officers, A Manual of Steam Engineering Practice -
Vol. 2", J.W.M. Sothern, revised by J.K. Bowden, 18th Ed., James Munro & Company, Ltd., Date ?.
"A Catechism of the Marine Steam Engine", Emory Edwards, Henry Carey Baird & Co., 1898.
b.lindsey:
um....yeah....I can see where space could be a problem...that's quite a library!!
Bill
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