Rare 1882 1st Ed., Bessemer Steel, Ores & Methods, T. Fitch, HC For Sale

Rare1882Bessemer steel: Ores and methods. New facts and statistics relating to the types of machinery in use, the methods in vogue, cost and class of labor employed, and the character and availability of the ores utilized in the manufacture of Bessemer steel in Europe and the United States; together with opinions and excerpts from various accepted authoritiesCompiled and arranged by Thomas W. FitchGood condition (see photos)No writingFew pages have some stains (see photos)Binding is generally tightpp. 125Dimensions: 9\" x 6\" x 1/2\"Content overviewChapter I (Ores): Quantity, quality, and cost of iron ores in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, and Italy, plus manufacture of spiegeleisen.Chapter II (Methods) and later sections: Descriptions of American steel works (e.g., Carnegie Bros. & Co. in Pittsburgh, North Chicago Rolling Mill Co.), labor costs (U.S. vs. England), machinery, processes, and comparisons with European practice. It also covers the emerging basic-Bessemer process.Compiled from contemporary facts, statistics, and authorities; prepared in connection with the Miners’ and Manufacturers’ Association of St. Louis.Why this book is rare and valuable.Bessemer supplied the revolutionary process used by Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie (with others) turned that process into a highly efficient, vertically integrated industry and built one of the great industrial empires of the Gilded Age on top of it. Without Bessemer’s invention, Carnegie’s steel career would have looked very different; without Carnegie’s organizational and commercial genius, the Bessemer process would still have spread, but the American industry would have developed more slowly and under different leadership. Carnegie was able to build the first skyscrapers in America.Lower costs – Made steel competitive with (and then superior to) wrought iron for many uses, including construction.Taller buildings – Structural steel frames are stronger and lighter than earlier iron or masonry construction. This made the first true skyscrapers practical starting in the 1880s (the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, completed 1885, is often cited as the first). Abundant Bessemer (and later open-hearth) steel supplied the beams, columns, and other members that allowed buildings to rise far higher than was feasible with older materials.The 1882 book Bessemer Steel: Ores and Methods that started this conversation sits right in the middle of this era—written when Bessemer steel was already transforming American industry and Carnegie was rapidly expanding.There is no other book that I have found other than digital copies & by several institutions.