Letter signed.
4to. 1 page on bifolium. Stored in custom cloth portfolio.
€ 850.00
To the engineer Alfred L. Rives (1830-1903), likewise of Washington, requesting a scientific report: "I beg leave to refer the enclosed letter to you, with the request that you will furnish an account of any late experiments on the subject to which it pertains [...]". With traces of a rusty paperclip on the reverse.
The "enclosed letter" to which Henry refers is also present, written by the engineer John W. Murphy (1828-74) on his "Iron Bridges" stationery and dated Philadelphia, 24 Semptember 1859. Murphy enquires after experiments on the elasticity of iron bars under different degrees of temperature, an issue of considerable importance in the construction of iron bridges. On headed stationery of the Pencoyd Iron Works.
