£450
PRESENTATION COPY, 8vo, pp. [xvi] + 78 plates. Plates printed in several colours. Original green textured cloth, spine and front board blocked in gilt. A little spotting. Extremities rubbed, slightly shaken, hinges cracking. First leaf printed with a epicycloidal pattern inside which is inscribed ‘To H. Beamont Esqr. with the author’s compliments, 1910’.
A scarce volume of complex curves produced with a Holtzapffel four-part chuck by the controversial surgeon Dr Edwin William Alabone (1849-1913). Following a popular book claiming to offer a cure for tuberculosis, Alabone was eventually struck from the medical register but continued practising, fighting legal challenges the whole way. His preferred method of relaxation from the stresses involved was evidently ornamental turning; this was the first of his publications showing off his creations. It omits any technical information about his process or machinery, but is elaborately printed in multiple colours, often on the same plate. It was probably printed at Alabone's own expense and most copies privately distributed by him, there being a pattern on the first leaf just right for putting a presentation inscription in.
