A Treatise on Bridge Architecture in which the Superior Advantage of the Flying Pendent Lever Bridge are fully proved. With an Historical Account and Description of Different Bridges erected in Various Parts of the World, from an early Period, down to the Present Time

Tall 8vo, original leather backed boards, illustrated with 18 copper-engraved plates, [18], [ix]-xxxii, [33],-288 pp. Covers rubbed, corners worn, bottom corner of top cover broken off, top hinge weak, spine scuffed; darkening and foxing to contents, occasional dampstains, in rare untrimmed state in the original boards, partially unopened. Plates do not appear to be in correct order, and a couple are not numbered, but all seem to be present. This is a rare American work on bridge building, which presents Pope’s plan to build a "flying pendent lever bridge" over the Hudson River. This is only the second American book on the subject, following Peale’s work, "An Essay on Building Wooden Bridges" (1797). Pope includes a discussion of the history of bridges in different parts of the world, and follows with a description of his flying pendent bridge. While Pope’s bridge design may have been unappreciated at the time, it became the basis for the cantilever bridge.