The National Encyclopaedia

Electrical diagrams, gas-making furnaces and exotic trees share the plates in these prints from The National Encyclopaedia, ...

Read more

Electrical diagrams, gas-making furnaces and exotic trees share the plates in these prints from The National Encyclopaedia, William Mackenzie's reference work of the late nineteenth century. Catalogued around 1880, the plates explain electricity and force through diagrams, show the furnaces and apparatus of gas manufacture, and group named botanical specimens, a combination of Victorian technical knowledge and systematic natural-history illustration. Maps supplied the geographical side of the encyclopaedia's broad purpose.

Electrical diagrams, gas-making furnaces and exotic trees share the plates in these prints from The National Encyclopaedia, William Mackenzie's reference work of the late nineteenth century. Catalogued around 1880, the plates explain electricity and force through diagrams, show the furnaces and apparatus of gas manufacture, and group named botanical specimens, a combination of Victorian technical knowledge and systematic natural-history illustration. Maps supplied the geographical side of the encyclopaedia's broad purpose.

Back to Top