8vo. 46pp, fine folding engraved map, hand coloured. Contemporary marbled wrappers. Skempton No.1188 (map only). Five splendid wet docks had been built along Merseyside during the course of the 18th century by Thomas Steers, Henry Berry and Thomas Morris and by 1810 their success was such that Liverpool was fast becoming the second port in Britain. However, they were no longer sufficient to provide adequate accommodation for either ships or merchandize. The trustees of the docks applied to parliament for powers to enormously increase the size of the docks and the present item describes their radical plans. Besides enlarging and deepening four of the existing docks, the trustees also wanted to fill in Steers’ first dock of 1715, using the site for a new Custom House, and to construct a series of new basins. The engineer for the project was to be John Rennie and the item contains a fine plan showing his proposed alterations and additions, together with his engineering estimates. However, the bill was thrown out. John Foster’s Princes Dock was opened only in 1821, followed by Jesse Hartley’s great series of docks.
GBP 250.00
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