1872. 8vo, viii, 110, [2] ‘explication des planches’, with one full-page steel engraving within the text, and three folding lithograph plates in a cloth backed blue marbled paper cover booklet in rear cloth pocket, plate I with letterpress table mounted at left margin, upper edge cropped with partial loss of headline; some light marginal browning throughout with some occasional light spotting, but otherwise clean and bright; in the original blue publisher’s blindstamped cloth, spine lettered in gilt, rear inner hinge cracked but holding, head and tail of spine a little bumped, upper cover with slight stain and small nick at fore-edge; a good copy. First edition of this detailed study of the inner city and suburban transport networks found in London, the work of Ferdinand Sérafon, described on the title-page as ‘Ingénieur civil, ancien ancien Ingénieur-Inpsecteur Principal au Chemin de Fer Victor-Emmanuel’.
By the 1870s it was becoming clear that Paris needed a public transport system other than the existing omnibus services. As Serafon notes in his preface ‘all the great cities of Europe seek to imitate London and to introduce the system of trams or that of ordinary railways, where the traffic makes the service of omnibuses insufficient... London is the first city in the world, and its network of railways deserves to be studied in detail if we wish to realise all the advantage that can be taken from railways in large cities’ (p. v). Discussing the urban and suburban railways of London, describing the various lines, types of rolling stock, speed of trains, and tariffs imposed, Serafon then highlights the advantages which a similar network would procure in Paris. The work concludes with a note on the construction and operation of tramways, both in large cities, suburbs or as branch lines.
Attractively illustrated, the work includes a wealth of technical information on all areas of construction and exploitation. The three accompanying plates, in a bound pamphlet held within a pocket on the rear paste-down, present a ‘Carte des Chemins de Fer de Londres en 1872’, a large folding comparative plate showing transverse and traverse cross sections of tracks and rail gauges, with the final folding plate showing rolling stock including a steam powered locomotive and omnibus.
A keen student of international advancement, and a fervent exponent, this was the first of a number of comprehensive studies on the subject by Serafon, including his 1877 Manuel Pratique de la construction des chemins de fer des rues (1877), noting US developments in particular, and Les Tramways (1882) highlighting wider global developments. A fascinating insight into the rapid growth of public transport systems at the end of the 19th century