trying to shorten my collection, I stumble on a handful of old technical manuals saved from the fire. These were engineering books in the day when being an engineer meant something very different than it does today.

The prize of the collection is an intact and clean copy of the Babcock and Wilcox manual, “Steam”. THis was the goto reference manual for power plant operation and stationary engineer work right up into my teens. I have two copies, so I’m giving one away. There are also copies of “Machinery’s handbook” and “Management’s handbook” (A not particularly well known companion piece, common before the advent of unions and now lost in the midst of time) Locke’s “Gas Engine Design” and quite a few others. In amidst this is a stack of personal notebooks with the hand written notes of a man who finished his engineer’s training very nearly 100 years ago, his pencillled copperplate notes crystal clear and readable as if they were done yesterday.

This sort of thing is usually lost, and it isn’t as if it’s anything a museum would be interested in, but it’s something another engineer can read and appreciate. And I have found it a good home, where this sort of thing is treasured.