ILLUSTRATED WITH AN ENGRAVED PLATE
Collin, Nicholas [Nils], 1746-1831. DESCRIPTION OF A SPEEDY ELEVATOR. By the Inventor, Nicholas Collin, D.D. with two drawings from a model representing it folded and wound up. [From the "Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, volume IV"]. [Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Thomas Dobson], [1799]. Quarto, 11-3/4 inches high by 9-3/8 inches wide. Unbound sheets from the "Transactions of the American Philosophical Society". 5 deckle-edged pages with large uncut & untrimmed margins, consisting of pages 519 to 525. Illustrated with a full-page plate depicting the folded and deployed states of Collin's speedy elevator engraved by Smither. There is some faint minor foxing and the overlapping edges of the pages are lightly chipped. There is a short tear to the bottom margin of the first page and offsetting to the page opposite the plate. Very good.
Unbound sheets from volume 4 of the "Transactions of the American Philosophical Society".
The Swedish inventor Nicholas [Nils] Collin (1746-1831) was the pastor of the Gloria Dei Church in Philadelphia. He designed a "speedy elevator" which could be easily folded and stored as a fast way to ascend the heights. His elevator could be used as a fire ladder, for raising a light, or for military reconnaissance. "Elevation of a person for taking views, and a quick descent when required; as on reconnoitering an enemy within shot: a machine for lifting him at least one hundred feet by eight men can be light enough for carrying on a waggon by two horses."
According to a column published in the May 1952 issue of the "Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians": "The elevator designed by the Reverend Nicholas Collin of Philadelphia rates some kind of priority among early American examples. His paper and a model were presented before the American Philosophical Society on December 2, 1791 and honored by award of the Magellanean gold medal in December, 1795. The copperplate ... was published in Volume IV of the Society's Transactions (1799) with an elaborate description of its design and operation...."
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