Historical Machinery Illustrations

Engravings depicting ancient mechanical devices, including water wheels, printing presses, and windmills, showcasing early engineering innovations.

Dr Dauglish's bread-making machine, London : every stage in the process is performed by machine until the bread reaches the shop (2 of 2) Date: 1860

Undershot water wheel powering a fulling mill. Tappets, C, on shaft, B, raise and lower mallets, D,D, which pound the woollen cloth. From Georg Andreas Bockler 'Theatrum Machinarum Novum', Nuremberg, 1673. Copperplate engraving.

España. Máquina de imprimir y prensa mecánica. Grabado de 1849.

Illustration showing apparatus for moving heavy items overland by means of rollers, pulleys, winches and various types of gearing. From a German edition of Agostino Ramelli 'Le diverse et artificiose machine', published in 1620.

Post mill: Sectional view of windmill showing grain being fed into millstones in centre. On left of mill, sack of grain is being hoisted top of building. In this design of mill the whole structure was rotated on post, R, to bring the sails into the wind. From German edition of Agostino Ramelli 'Le diverse et artificiose machine' published 1620. Engraving.

Engraving depicting a shingling hammer with puddling furnace in the background. Dated 19th century

Illustration showing Esher Linoleum Company, Royal Mills, Esher, Surrey, Great Britain, 1887.

Sawmill powered by an undershot water wheel. Engraving 1650.

Engraving depicting a bricklayer. Dated 19th century

Dr Dauglish's bread-making machine, London : every stage in the process is performed by machine until the bread reaches the shop (2 of 2) Date: 1860

Casting cannon: tapping furnace to allow molten metal to run into the moulds a feet of workmen on left. On right, puddler is skimming off impurities. From Denis Diderot 'Encyclopedie', Paris, 1751-1780.

An engraving depicting a stone mason's yard. Dated 19th century

Forge showing bellows and hammer powered by an undershot water wheel through drive shaft, B, with cam, C working hammer, and crank, G, operating bellows. From Georg Andreas Bockler 'Theatrum Machinarum Novum' Nuremberg 1673. Copperplate engraving.

Engraving depicting the compression of printed sheets in a manual press prior to binding. Dated 19th century

Nail maker, Dudley region of Worcestershire (West Midlands) making horseshoe nails at a block frame. After the introduction of machine-made nails in 1830 this cottage industry, which employed 50,000, went into decline.

An engraving depicting a common type of press for crushing apples to make cider. Dated 19th century

Shaping a flint glass vessel. England, 1841

Engraving depicting a corn mill powered by an undershot water wheel. Dated 17th century

An engraving of Machines used for crushing malt, during brewing. The malt was passed between Steel rollers to produce grist; the coarseness of which, could be varied, by altering the distance of the rollers from each other. London, 1841

Illustration showing Wheel and pinion crane in use on a quay 1860

An engraving depicting the process of making flaked cocoa by grinding roasted cocoa beans. Cocoa was a cheaper product than chocolate as it was produced from beans which had not been as thoroughly husked. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting a tapping copper furnace used to produce pig iron, St Helens, Lancashire. Dated 19th century

Engraving depicting construction on the foundations of the St. Louis bridge (c 1870). The men on the left of the picture are using a sand-pump to remove the subsoil. Air locks were at the bottom of the shaft. Men suffered greatly from caisson disease (bends) as they were decompressing too quickly, and there were 14 fatalities. Dated 19th century

Illustration from Theatrum Machinarum Novum 1661 by Georg Andreas Böckler; A flour mill driven by a water powered wheel

Ventilating a mine. Hollow drum with air holes, B, at opposite sides, mounted on an axle, C, to which are fixed fans rotating inside the drum. Axle turned by water wheel through a spur gear and lantern.

Engraving depicting the raising of a large slab of stone using a rope and pulley. The power from the man at the crank wheel is transmitted through gearing, including crown and pinion (E,F) and worm and pinion (M,H). Dated 17th century

Illustration showing Rope elevator, showing hydraulic machinery in basement 1880

Illustration showing, Multiple suction pumps, powered by an overshot water wheel through a toothed wheel and drum (C,D,E) being used to raise water from a mine. From Agricola 'De re metallica', Basle, 1556

Engraving depicting a Tide Mill, powered by the rising and falling of the tide. Dated 19th century

Tunneling the Hoosac tunnel: miners descending the central shaft. Illustration from a magazine printed in 1870

An engraving of brewing coppers, where the wort and the hops were boiled together: St James' Gate Brewery, Dublin. From a print published circa 1890

Einfacher Destillierapparat im Jahre 1885, Historisch, digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert

Engraving depicting the compression of printed sheets in a manual press prior to binding. Dated 19th century

An engraving depicting riveting bars of iron to form a column - Phoenixville Work, Pennsylvania. Dated 19th century

Draining mine using series of suction pumps powered by a water wheel. From Agricola 'De re metallica Basle 1556. Woodcut.

Charging a blast furnace at the Govan Iron Works, Scotland. Charge fed into cup around cone, as cone lifted the charge fell into top of furnace. Molten metal run off when furnace tapped at bottom. Wood engraving c1885.

Illustration showing Wheel and pinion crane in use on a quay. 1850

Illustration showing a bricklayer with a wooden leg. 1825

Engraving depicting the smelting of iron in India. Dated 19th century

Illustration showing Electroplating in progress in Oudry's factory, Paris 1870

Perpetual motion: A grinding mill M, driven by a water wheel H, which is itself driven y waer from upper cistern F. In addition to driving the mill, the whater wheel also drives the water up again to the cistern by rotating the Archimedean screw Q, and the pumps B and C. Engraving from Theatrum Mach

Charging a blast furnace at the Govan Iron Works, Scotland, c1885. Artist: Unknown

Engraving depicting the process of papermaking: pulp flowing in to a continuous paper making machine. McMurray Paper Mills, Wandsworth, London.

A weaver at work on his loom and a man spinning in the 17th century. After a print by Jan Gillisz van Vliet.

Illustration showing Rope elevator, showing hydraulic machinery in basement 1880

A mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet.

Construction of the Thames Tunnel, London, 1825-1843. Artist: Unknown

Sweden, Blekinge, Blekinge, Karlskrona, Karlskrona, external marina (depicted, town).Sweden, Blekinge, Blekinge, Karlskrona, Karlskrona, External War Gogs (depicted, City)

An engineer attends to a Maybach engine inside the bridge on a German Zeppelin airship during World War One 1916

A woodcut engraving depicting a horse-powered flour mill. Dated 17th century

De Re Metallica Plate 15: Axels and Drums, Mining - De Re Metallic

Mining, two men operate a handcart for a shaft / Bergbau, zwei Mann bedienen einen Handgöpel für einen Schacht, Historisch, historical, digital improved reproduction of an original from the 19th century / digitale Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert,.

Woodcut engraving depicting a reversible hoist for raising leather buckets from a mine shaft. Man in hut, O, opens and shuts water races by levers, C, D, to stop and start the water wheel with a double row of buckets facing opposite ways.

Paper making: Wet press for forming pulp into sheets. From 'Scientific American', 1898.

Engraving depicting the process of fulling stocks used for oiling leather

A monkey press, or small pile driver, as used for filling Congreve rockets 1855

Workshop for the Manufacture of Paper in China, 1562, Historic, digitally restored reproduction of an original 19th-century original

Trip hammer powered by an overshot waterwheel being used in a forge. Engraving 1617.

Diagram depicting Giovanni Branca's steam engine (1629) being used to work a stamping mill. Giovanni Branca (1571-1645) an Italian engineer and architect. Dated 19th century

Illustration showing Hydraulic lift worked by hydraulic power distributed by the Hydraulic Power Company from their station between Blackfriars and London Bridges. 1887

While repairs are carried out, the great clock of St Paul's Cathedral, London is kept going manually. To the left, a man gives the exact time to a workman (centre) who adjusts the small wheel. On the right, the timekeeper winds up the clock and chimes. Date: February 23 - 24, 1927

Machine for willowing or disentangling cotton. Engraving, London, 1844.

A woodcut engraving depicting a reversible hoist for raising leather buckets from a mine shaft. Man in the hut, O, opens and shuts water races by levers, C, D, to stop and start the water wheel with a double row of buckets facing the opposite ways. Dated 16th century

Engraving depicting a double cylinder perfecting machine. Dated 19th century

Workers placing a girder in position on the Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, Paris, France, late 19th century. From Great Engineers, published c.1890

Engraving depicting Augustus Applegath's double cylinder perfecting machine. Augustus Applegath (1788-1871) an English printer and inventor known for developing the first workable vertical-drum rotary printing press. Dated 19th century

Spain, Catalonia, Barcelona. Assembly section in the workshops of 'La Maquinista Terrestre y Maritima'. Drawing by A. Rigalt. Engraving by Tomás Carlos Capuz. Detail. La Ilustración Española y Americana, 1882.

A woodcut engraving depicting the draining of a mine that uses a series of suction pumps powered by a water wheel. Dated 16th century

ENGRAVING OF SPINNING MACHINE KNOWN AS SPINNING JENNY - 1764. Author: JAMES HARGRAVES.

Butter churn powered by on a treadmill. From a Dairy Farm 1885

Appalling conditions prevailed in the 18th and early 19th centuries in the coal mines. Coal was manhandled by barrow, often by women and children. 1840

Illustration depicting the planning machine for levelling cast metal surfaces. In place of a plain iron in a box, as in a wood pane, this machine had a piece of hard steel with a keen cutting edge. Dated 19th century

Washing tin after extraction of ore. depicted in 'De Re Metallica', Basle, 1556 by Agricola

An engraving depicting the method of testing a wheel at Hadfield's Steel Foundry, Sheffield. Dated 19th century

Women workers hauling coal to the surface up a ladder. Leading woman has lost her load and the woman following is in danger of being hurt buy falling coal and and falling off the ladder and crashing to the pit bottom. Woodcut of British mining conditions c1844.

Eine Obstpresse, Industrieprodukt aus dem Jahr 1880, Historisch, digital restaurierte Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, gena...

Illustration showing a miner and a young girl at work in a 19th century English coal mine

Printing Workshop. Inside a printing house, 16th century. The Arts of the Middle Ages and at the Period of the Renaissance by Paul Lacroix, 1874

Carpet weaver laying the warp on the frame. Dated between 1751-80.

The royal kitchen at Windsor Castle with the chef roasting a large beef joint. Dated 1880

Polishing of agate semi-precious stones in Idar Oberstein, Germany, 1856, Historical, digitally restored reproduction of a 19th century original, exact date unknown, Europe

Sectional view of manhole in New York street, showing telephone cables being spliced. The Eclectic Telephone, New Tork, 1890.

Engraving depicting the splitting of sheepskin to produce skiver

Engraving depicting a horse powered flour mill. Dated 17th century

An engraving depicting Alfred Brandt's pneumatic rock boring machine. Alfred Brandt (1846-1899) a German engineer. Dated 19th century

Illustration of labourers working. One of the labourers is mending the roof of a building whilst other workers are drilling and digging into the ground. Dated 1900

Thames subway between Tower Hill and Vine Street: Advancing the tunnelling shield so that the next section of cast iron lining could be fitted. This was the first tunnel to have a cast iron lining. Engraving 1869.

Illustration of a roofer working. The roofer is mending the roof of a building. Dated 1900

Collection Dutch Heidematschappij. Tillage, MessenEg. undated

Sectional view of a mine showing shafts and galleries. At surface of each shaft is a winch or windlass for raising and lowering loads. At D a miner wheels a barrow of ore or spoil out of mine through adit with timber reinforced entrance. From Agricola 'De re metallica' Basle 1556. Woodcut.

Illustration depicting the heating the bar of angle steel for the rib of a ship so that it could be shaped on the bending slab. Dated 19th Century

DF-SN-86-07129. Country: Unknown

Scene from a slaughterhouse in Chicago, United States of America in 1892. Scraping the bristles off the animals. From La Ilustracion Española y Americana, published 1892.

An engraving depicting a distillery, in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1823

Pump applied to an exhaustion work, vintage engraved illustration. Industrial encyclopedia E.-O. Lami - 1875.

Mine being drained by a rag-and-chain pump powered by overshot water wheel. At right is detail of section of pipe K. From Agricola De re metallica, Basle, 1556.

De Re Metallica Plate 18: Operating the Drums, Mining - De Re Metallic

Ventilating a mine. Hollow drum with air holes, B, at opposite sides, mounted on an axle, C, to which are fixed fans rotating inside the drum. Axle turned by water wheel through a spur gear and lantern. When axle turned, the fans rotating inside the drum would suck air in one hole and out of the opposite one, setting up a current of air. From 'De re metallica', by Agricola, pseudonym of Georg Bauer (Basle, 1556). Woodcut.

Paper maker, 16th century, (1849).Artist: Jost Amman

Operator feeding metal into nail making machine.1880

Illustration showing 19th-century iron and steel workers at a punching and cutting machine. Clyde Shipyard, Scotland; 1843

of 3