(EIFFEL, Gustave) Constructions métalliques et entreprises de travaux publics. G.Eiffel Ingénieur-Constructeur à Levallois-Perret (près Paris). Paris, Reprint from “Revue Périodique”, Mars, 1886
8vo. 28pp, 4 plates and many wood-engraved text ills. Orig. stiff printed wrappers, upper wrapper beginning to detach. The whole issue of “Revue Périodique” for March 1886 was devoted to Eiffel’s many achievements in large-scale iron construction, demonstrating just how successful his firm was before his name became internationally famous with the eponymous tower. By 1886 the firm had a clutch of big bridges to its credit, notably the great arched viaducts at Garabit and Oporto, together with their patent design for a light-weight demountable bridge suitable for export to places as far away as Saigon. These and others are described and illustrated, together with a variety of buildings, such as the railway station in Budapest, the principal gallery of the 1878 Paris Exposition, the famous Nice observatory and so on. However, the book is also of great interest because it illustrates and briefly describes the preliminary design for the Eiffel Tower, which was submitted by the firm this same year to Lockroy, the General Commissioner for the 1889 Exhibition. The design shows the modifications by the architect, Sauvestre, to the outline sketch prepared by Eiffel, Nouguier and Koechlin, notably an arch between the base the first platform and a glass-covered hall at first floor level, neither of which appeared in the tower as built. A rare and lovely item.
£550
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