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formation.” Some of the models were even designed to
simulate volcanic activity, including eruptions. Theories
of planetary formation were based on contemporary
knowledge of the earth’s geology and Nasmyth himself
had observed volcanic activity during his travels. Yet the
models involved the use of the hand in their construc-
tion, defying the advantages believed to be an inherent
quality of mechanical reproduction.
The value of scientifi c illustration is based on an
implicit faith in the processes of observation, reason,
and representation. Theories of planetary formation
were dependent on the reliability of the knowledge of
the geology of the earth. This reasoning by analogy
was based on the belief that similar effects had similar
causes. Nasmyth applied this conceptual algorithm to
a comparison of a dried apple and the back of a human
hand. His reasoning was simple: similarities between the
skin of the apple and the skin on the back of a human
hand could be the product of similar subcutaneous phe-
nomena. The evidence was supplied by the juxtaposition
of photographic reproductions.
Naysmyth’s faith in the objectivity of his drawings
and his models was consistent with the scientifi c prac-
tice of the time. It was also consistent with his use of
drawings and models when developing a new idea for
a machine. Naysmyth was a very successful inventor.
He was constructing miniature steam engines at the age
of 17 and was commissioned by the Scottish Society of
the Arts to create a steam powered vehicle capable of
carrying up to six people in 1827. Nasmyth started his
own business in 1834 at the age of 26 in which he suc-
cessfully built steam engines and machine tools and, in
1839, drew sketches for the design of a steam hammer
which he eventually patented in 1842.
Nasmyth’s sketches and drawings represent the
fi rst stage in the concrete realization of an idea. The
working models he constructed represent the second
stage and demonstrate that his ideas do indeed work.
The third stage is the manufacturing of the full-scale
machine. In a move that was prescient for the time, he
recorded these sketches in photographs as early as 1839
as record of and as proof that he had worked out the
idea. There are no records of photographs having been
made of the models or full-scale machines as if they
themselves were the concrete documentation for the
idea. In the case of the photographs of Nasmyth’s mod-
els of the moon’s surfaces, complete with simulated
volcanic activity, one might conclude that the models
themselves were the demonstration and proof of his
ideas. The photographs and resulting Woodburytype
illustrations were a means of making his ideas avail-
able to a wider public.
Nasmyth credited his ability to develop his ideas
through drawings to the art instruction he had received
from his father, Alexander Nasmyth. We can also trace
his interest in mechanical reproduction, illustration and
model making to the same source. Alexander Nasmyth
used a camera obscura in his art instruction and created
models when redesigning estates. The owners of the
estates he painted often asked him to redesign their es-
tates to more closely resemble the imaginative landscape
paintings. Alexander Nasmyth was also considered the
founder of the Scottish school of landscape painting and
was also known as an artist.
Karl F. VolkmarSee also: Woodburytype, Woodburygravure.Further Reading
Armstrong, Carol, Scenes in a Library: Reading the Photograph
in a Book, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 1998.
Cantrell, John A., James Nasmyth and the Bridgewater Foundry, A
Study of Entrepreneurship in the Early Engineering Industry,
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1985.
Nasmyth, James, James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography,
Ed. Samuel Smiles, (1883; Lindsay Publications, 1990).Nasmyth, James and James Hill Carpenter. Glass Globe.
Cracked by internal pressure illustrating the cause of bright
streaks radiating from Tyoho.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles © The J. Paul Getty
Museum.