BESSEMER, Henry.
Autograph letter, signed, to the editor of The Engineer.
165 Denmark Hill, Surrey, 5 May 1896.
8vo bifolium (176 x 111 mm), pp. [1]; paper headed ‘165, Denmark Hill, Surrey’ and bearing Bessemer’s embossed crest; slightly soiled and creased, extreme upper outer corner of first leaf torn away.
The steelmaker Sir Henry Bessemer (1813–1898) presents his compliments to ‘the Editor of the Engineer’ and regrets that, owing to ‘a painful accident to his leg’, he is unable to call personally in order to deliver an enclosed letter (not present). ‘A copy has also been simultaneously forwarded to other leading Technical Journals’. The editor of The Engineer at the time of the present letter was the Irishman Vaughan Pendred (1836–1912).
‘Bessemer’s reputation as one of the great Victorian engineers has never been questioned, and as to his converter – which remained remarkably unchanged and produced steel in Britain as late as 1974 – few would argue with one contemporary assessment that: “No other invention has had such remarkable results” (Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute)’ (ODNB).
