Brown embossed cloth binding with gilt title on the spine and front board.

• F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

This vintage book contains Samuel Smiles Jr.’s 1857 biography, “The Life of George Stephenson”. George Stephenson (1781-1848) was an English engineer who is responsible for building the world’s first inter-city railway line to use steam locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. This fascinating and insightful biography is highly recommended for those with an interest in locomotive history, and it would make for a worthy addition to any collection. Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was a Scottish author. Other notable works by this author include: “Self-Help” (1859), “Character” (1871), and “Thrift” (1875).

George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the “Father of Railways”, Stephenson was considered by the Victorians as a great example of diligent application and thirst for improvement. His chosen rail gauge, sometimes called “Stephenson gauge”, was the basis for the 4 feet 8  + 1⁄2 inches (1.435 m) standard gauge used by most of the world’s railways.

Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Built by George and his son Robert’s company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 was the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830.