Steamships!

The adoption of steam power in shipping during the 19th century marks one of the greatest changes in global transportation that the World has ever see.  Prior to the adoption of steam power, shipping was always at the mercy of the wind and tides. Human powered vessels, like galleys and the Norse long boat, while swift were unsuitable for carrying bulk cargoes. Steam power made possible regular trans-oceanic shipping of bulk cargoes and enabled the rapid industrialization of many countries around the World.

This book "Steam at Sea", by Dennis Griffiths,  is a history of the 200 years of steam propulsion in sea going vessels. It is not a history of steamships but a history of the steam plants themselves. Filled with illustrations and diagrams this book is a masterful technical treatise and an entertaining historical analysis of the development and use of steam power for shipping. 

There are sections on the early use of steam power, the development of river vessels and then seagoing ones. Improvements in engines and propulsion systems including the triple expansion engine and the development of  turbines and even nuclear power plants. 

A highly recommended addition to any technical bookshelf!

Title
Steam at Sea
Two Centuries of Steam-powered Ships

Author
Denis Griffiths
B Eng.M Sc.PhD.CEng FIMarE

Publisher
Conway Maritime Press
London

Date
1997

ISBN
0-85177-666-3

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

 

A fantastic collection of old photographs.

This slim volume "The Royal Navy in Old Photographs" by Wilfred Pym Trotter, is a treasure trove of Victorian and Edwardian naval ships.
The 190 photos cover vessels from the 1850s to the outbreak of WWI. The photos are reproduced with care and each has a date, ship name and location when possible. The locations come from all across the vast Empire, from Esquimalt in British Columbia to Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, from South Africa to Scapa Flow.

There are also great pictures of the crews themselves.  These are particularly fascinating because they chronicle the transition from the old Jack Tar to the professional Matelot. Their lives were hard, discipline was harsh, but as the century turned things rapidly improved.

Highly recommended, if you can find it anywhere.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Title
The Royal Navy in Old Photographs

Author
Wilfrid Pym Trotter

Publisher
J.M.Dent and Sons
London

Date
1975

ISBN
0-460-04132-0

A beautiful book this!

It was my father's and while a little rough around the edges is still in pretty good shape!
This large format (11x17) book is a commemorative edition put out by the Illustrated London News in 1935.
The event commemorated was the Silver Jubilee of the reign of his Imperial Majesty King George V.

George was a grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. From 1877 until 1891 he served in the Royal Navy. On the death of Victoria in 1901, George's father became King Edward VII, and George was made Prince of Wales. On his father's death in 1910, he succeeded as King-Emperor of the British Empire.

This book is a fantastic collection of articles, photos and elegant colour plates celebrating the King's reign.


And while not Victorian many of the photos and drawings are Victorian and well worth a perusal.

Title
The Illustrated London News
Silver Jubilee
Record Number
King George V.
and Queen Mary
1910-1935

Author
Various

Publisher
Illustrated London News
and Sketch, Ltd.
346, Strand, London W.C.2

Date
1935

Keep your sight glass full and your firebox trimmed.
KJ

Found this gem at the Internet Archives.

This book is an interesting treatise on the changes in naval warfare in the mid 19th century brought on by the adoption of steam power for naval vessels. What is most fascinating to me is the attempt by the author, an ARMY General, Sir Howard Douglas, to try to predict what effect steam power would have. Note this document pre-dates wide spread adoption of armour plating even, the French La Gloire was launched November 1859 and the British Warrior in 1860.

An interesting read, highly recommended to get a feel for the effect such technological change was having.

Title
On Naval warfare with Steam


Link to File
http://archive.org/details/onnavalwarfarew01douggoog

Author
General Sir Howard Douglas
Bart., G.C.B, G.C.M.B, D.C.L., F.R.S.

Date
1860

Publisher
John Murray
Albermarle Street
London

Quote from Introduction

We are now at the commencement of a new era in
naval warfare, in consequence of the introduction of
steam as a propelling power for ships, and its applica-
tion, by all the maritime powers of Europe, to vessels
of war, from those of the lowest class to line-of-battle
ships of the greatest magnitude. This new power
will necessarily modify, and, to a great extent, over-
turn, the present tactics of war on the ocean.

Hitherto the execution of naval evolutions has de-
pended on atmospherical conditions, and often the best-
concerted plans for attack or defence at sea have been
frustrated, when at the point of being successfully
carried out, by sudden calms, or by unforeseen changes
in the direction of the wind ; while now, an elaborate
system of appropriate machinery, put in motion by the
expansive force of steam, by enabling a vessel to be
moved at pleasure, with more or less rapidity, or to be
brought to a state of rest, or again, to have the direc-
tion of its motion changed through the guiding power
of the helm, will enable the commander of a ship or
fleet to put in practice, without risk of failure, what-
ever manoeuvre he may have determined on, whether
for coming to action, or for counteracting the measures
taken by his opponent, previously to, or during, all
the battle movements of the fleet.

It is generally supposed that the present naval su-
premacy of Great Britain is mainly due to circum-
stances arising out of the particular nature of the
moving power by which the evolutions of vessels,
singly or in fleets, have been performed. That moving
power is the wind acting on the sails of the ships — a
power in its nature very variable ; and it is evident
that the introduction of steam, as a propelling power,
whose action is entirely under the control of the engi-
neer, will bring about great changes in the relative
conditions of British and foreign navies, affecting, in
consequence, the maritime importance of the several
European nations.

====================
Keep your sightglass full and your firebox trimmed.
KJ

A recent acquisition.
(Literally two days ago)

And a real treasure!
This book, entitled simply "Airship Design" by Charles P. Burgess, originally published in 1927, was intended to be a TEXTBOOK on the design of rigid airships. This 300 page book is absolutely stuffed with engineering formulas, diagrams, tables, and in depth discussions of the design of rigid airships. There is information here that can be found nowhere else outside of original German documents from the time.

Burgess was an Aeronautical engineer  with the Bureau of Aeronautics, United States Navy. He was also Associate Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at MIT.  He attempted to collect in one place all the critical analysis necessary for the design of these aerial leviathans.  At the time the large rigid airship was considered to be one of the great modern inventions. The future of which was still very bright!

The US Navy had acquired the Los Angeles,ex LZ126, from Germany  as war reparations in 1924, and was in the process of designing its own large rigid airships the Macon and Akron. The destruction of the Shenandoah in a storm  in 1925 had only increased the interest in the design problems and this book was an exercise in making the current knowledge available for designers, inventors and students working in the field of rigid airship design.
 
My copy is a 2004 reprint by the University Press of  the Pacific in Hawaii, and is available here at Amazon. Reading through this book is fascinating, every page has some bit of information that just thrills the engineer in me.

For example, from a randomly chosen  page (104) under the heading Dynamic Lift:

Moderate inequalities of the static forces of weight and buoyancy may be compensated by aerodynamic forces imposed upon the hull and horizontal tail surfaces through controlled operation of the elevators. This dynamic lift varies as the square of the speed, and increases with the angle of attack up to large angles, provided the speed is constant; but the increase in drag with the angle of attack reduces the speed so rapidly that at any given horsepower, the maximum dynamic lift is obtained at about 8 degree pitch. Figure 30 shows curves of the speed and dynamic lift of the U.S.S. Los Angeles.

This book also contains diagrams and photos of the structural components of these ships, as well as the analysis and design calculations necessary to insure their structural stability.

A fabulous source of engineering information from a time when Airships truly were the masters of the sky.

Title
Airship Design

Author
Charles P. Burgess
Aeronautical engineer  with the Bureau of Aeronautics, United States Navy. He was also Associate Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at MIT.

Publisher
University Press f the Pacific
Honalulu, Hawaii, USA

Date
Originally 1927
Reprinted 2004

ISBN
1-4102-1173-8

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

This is a fabulous collection of information!

Her Majesty's Army; a descriptive account of the various regiments now comprising the Queen's forces, from their first establishment to the present time
(The "Present Time" in question being around 1890 )

I just downloaded this 4 volume masterwork by Walter Richards.
Each volume is a 10MB PDF file. I downloaded the the black and white ones because they load faster on my old laptop, but the originals include colour plates of the various units by the noted military artist G. D. Giles. These are included in the colour PDFs.

Here's an example of the plates:


The Armed forces of Her Imperial Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria were varied and diverse. From the formal archaic splendour of the Horse Guards to the ragged auxiliaries in the highlands of India and Afghanistan, every unit is included with descriptions of their history, famous battles, current dispositions, uniforms, honours and insignia and often legends of their formation.

You can download the PDFs and other ebook formats here:

Her Majesty's Army at The Internet Archive

Highly recommended reading for the Military buffs amongst us.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

This volume is a wonderful collection of photographs selected from the Royal Photographic Society covering the period of 1839-1919.

The book is selected, edited and arranged by Sir Thomas Hopkinson and includes photographs by pioneers like Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, David Octavious Hill and others less well known. The subjects included are landscapes, architecture, portraiture and 'high art'. Many great shots of famous people like Gostav Dore and Oscar Wilde as well as many ordinary people.

The street scenes, harbour scenes, drawing rooms, country fairs and faerie glens are magnificent.

Of particular interest are the amazing variation in formal wear across this time period, as well as the quaint, pseudo-historicals of the fantasy portraits. I just wish these had been in colour

Turning the pages of this remarkable and handsome book one can follow the stages by which photography became recognized as an art in its own right rather than merely a mechanical device or a useful aide to academic printers.

Title
Treasures if the Royal Photographic Society
1839-1919

Author
Sir Thomas Hopkinson

Publisher
The Royal Photographic Society

Date
1980

Keep your sightglass full and your firebox trimmed.

Kevin/Max

I have a soft spot for the "Sea Life" as many of you know, and this volume is one of my treasures.

Reed's New Guide Book to the Local Marine Board Examinations

It is a study and examination guide for the examinations that all Masters and Mates of civilian British ships, trading in and out of British waters, were required to pass. This is the twelfth edition of the guide and published in 1891. The book itself is in marvelous condition for being 120 years old, cloth bound in lovely cerulean blue with a gold embossed ship's wheel and title on the cover.

What I find most interesting is the complexity of the contents, the book is filled with typical examination questions and they are tough! Most are related to navigation and mathematics as well as signals, storm tracking and correcting compasses for deviation. Today there are very few High School grads who would be able to work out the questions here. It is important to remember that very few ship's officers of the day had much formal education.

One passage I found fascinating was in the requirements of an officer, in this case the Second Mate:

"A SECOND MATE must be (at least?) seventeen years of age, and must have been four at sea. He must also prove that he has served at least one year in a square rigged sailing vessel in the last five years."

This implies that men younger than 17 had applied before!?! How many parents would today allow a 13 year old to go off and serve as a sailor at sea?

At the end of the book are catalogues of Admiralty charts available from Reed's as well as lists of other Maritime Books, Guides and materials that they supplied.

An interesting glimpse into the work of an officer in the British Merchant Service of the 1890's.

Title
Reed's New Guide Book
To the Local Marine Board Examinations
of Masters and Mates
for
Certificates of Competency
Twelfth Edition
-Sunderland-

Author
None listed

Publisher
Thomas Reed and Co.
184 high Street West
London

Date
1891

Keep your sightglass full and your firebox trimmed.
KJ

This wonderful volume by Anthony J. Whiten is filled with 276 pages of practical information and techniques for repairing clockwork of all sizes from wristwatches to grandfather clocks and, by extension, clocks worthy of Hugo Cabret!

Well illustrated with clear line drawings which help to make the practical text very clear. These illustrations are a wonderful source of gear and tool illustrations for other things too

One of the most interesting parts of this book for me, was how simple the tools are! Most of them can be made very easily and the instructions for doing so are included in the text.

If you ever wanted to take a clockwork mechanism apart (pretty much all of us I bet!) and THEN PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN and get it to actually WORK(!?!), this is the book for you.

It also brings the skill and craftsmanship of the watchmaker and designer of yore into perspective with our modern mass produced gadgets.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Title
Repairing Old Clocks and Watches

Author
Anthony J. Whiten

Publisher
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company

Date
1979

ISBN
0-442-24730-3

Examples
From the introduction:
"You can buy watches today on which the time is displayed redly, as seen through the eyes of an overhung (sic) wrestler; or you can buy clocks on which the figures march past on horizontal display with relentless precision. These devices are probably manufactured for the use of those who, for reasons known only to themselves, want to know the exact time. The watches and clocks described in this book, were made for such people in their day. Now, however, they provide a leisure time interest, and will still tell us the time as near as most of us want to know it."

An example of the clear warnings in the text:
"All these specimens, of which you are looking at just one, have a mainspring. This may be wound up. Any attempt to dismantle without doing something about this will be either hilarious, disappointing, crippling or even fatal. The timepiece may be harmed, and so may you. Therefore let down the power of the mainspring now." Followed by clear instructions on just how to go about that safely.

The Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg

Written in the 1985 by Harold G. Dick and Douglas H. Robinson, this book is a real gem.

Harold Dick was an American engineer assigned as a technical liaison to the Zeppelin Company in Germany. Harold worked for the Goodyear-Zeppelin Company in Akron Ohio. His 5 years working in Germany during the turbulent 30s saw the rise of the greatest of all airships, the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg. Despite the rising militarism and despotism of the NAZIs he had access to every aspect of the Zeppelin operation and flew on nearly every flight of the great airships. Keeping meticulous records of every aspect of their operation.

This book is a goldmine of information on how these vast machines were designed, maintained and actually operated.

Narrowly missing the fateful last flight of the Hindenburg, he describes the reaction to this tragedy technically as well as socially and politically. He also describes the changes made to the successor to the Hindenburg, the Graf Zeppelin II, which unfortunately was never flown commercially and was broken up to be turned into fighters during the war.

The book is illustrated with lots of photographs and diagrams, many taken by the author himself and never before published. There are also translations of original documents, maps and diagram aplenty.

While not really being Steampunk this book does give the reader a real taste for what might have been in the best tradition of our favourite "what ifs".

I've tagged this post "Flight Engineer" because it has lots of good information useful as reference for the design.

Title
The Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships
Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg
Author
Harold G. Dick
Douglas H. Robinson
Publisher
Smithsonian Institute Press
Washington
Date
1985

ISBN:0-87474-364-8

Keep your sight glass full and your firebox trimmed.
KJ

Found this interesting map of the Steampunk novel landscape.
Created by writer Louise Curtis, she writes about Steampunk on Tuesdays.
She has this to say about the map:

Yes, it’s finally here! My idea of what a map of steampunk might look like. Harangue me on my choices and omissions below! Post it wherever you like, with a link back here.
Caveat #1: This is only books (I tried to make it only novels, or at least novelists).
Caveat #2: I’m only one person. This was a big job, and I chose to oversimplify rather than make it my life’s work. Also, there are some errors. And, as you can tell, I chose to finish the map this year rather than take longer and make it bigger, prettier, and funnier. And yes, I read and write mainly young adult, which is also obvious at a glance.
Caveat #3: More is being written all the time. Tell us about your favourite steampunk in the comments!

There follows a linked list of all her Steampunk novel reviews.
Here is the map (gotta love whiteboards!):

 You can see the full version here.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Just in time for your holiday shopping.
Or your holiday wish list as the case may be.
55 Steampunk books from Buzzfeed
Each book entry includes a nice full colour shot of the cover linked to an online bookseller's entry.
As the books are listed in no particular order, looking down this list is a delightful ramble through the world of Steampunk. There are classics here, recent books on the Steampunk scene as well as some of the modern interpretations of ur evolving worlds of steam, clockwork and adventure!
 
Here are some examples:

Enjoy.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

This book is a real treasure trove of design ideas.

First published as Ornamentale Formenlehre in 1886 as a Folio sized edition in Leipzig, this book became the standard pattern book for designers of the latter 19th c. The first English version was published in book form in 1894 and rapidly became the bible for design in Victorian time.

With over 3000 detailed line drawings, in 300 plates, of classical and mediaeval decoration, this book contains the genesis of much of the design used in Victorian sculpture, architecture and graphic arts.

My edition was printed in 1974 and is a wide format beauty that allows for detailed examination of the figures.

The forward by the editor, Tony Birks, is a fascinating look at the enduring conflict between technological devices, with their spartan utilitarian looks, and the complex and intricate designs of neo classical and neo gothic design that became popular at that time.

Title
Myer's Ornament
Victorian Bible of Design
Originally
A Handbook of Ornament

Author
Franz Sales Myers
edited by Tony Birks

Publisher
Gerald Duckworth and Company
London


Date
1974
First English edition 1894

ISBN
0 7156 0713 8

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Here is a fine collection of pages.
Most of the works of Jules Verne are here translated into English and several other languages.
There is also a ton of information and links to Jules Verne information, studies and academic papers.
Check it out!

Zvi Har’El’s Jules Verne Collection 


This page has all 118 of the original illustrations from 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.
There is a similar page for every Verne tale!

The Illustrated Jules Verne Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (1866-69)

Definitely worth a few hours of perusal.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Found this lovely collage of images in my ramblings this snowy morning.
It is a book trailer for  "Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention"



From Youtube:
A trailer for the book "Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention"
Before Jules Verne's flying machines and H. G. Wells's spaceships, there was Frank Reade, globe-trotting inventor and original steampunk hero. Frank Reade magazines were the world's first science fiction periodicals, enthralling millions of readers with tales of fantastic inventions and adventures. Now many of the spectacular images from the vintage dime novel series are being reprinted for the first time in more than a century, along with excerpts from the action-packed stories. In Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention, this lost legacy of Americana is interwoven with a biography of the "real" Reade family—inventors and explorers who traveled the world with their helicopter airships, submarines, and robots, and who encountered figures like Geronimo and Houdini. This epic saga is brought to life in the multimedia style of the authors' previous volume, the critically acclaimed Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel. Frank Reade is part science fiction, part history, and entirely exciting!

This trailer was created by Paul Guinan on his Mac using iMovie. Paul's images are all from the Frank Reade book that he co-authored with wife Anina Bennett. The book is published by Abrams Image and was released in February 2012.
------
I just wish the video spent a tad more time on each image, the pause button is your friend.
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Pipe organs that is.

This profusely illustrated two volume Dover reprint of The Art of Organ Building by George Ashdown Audsley was originally published in 1905.

What I find most fascinating about this book is the intricacy of the mechanisms that connect the beautiful ivory and ebony keyboards to the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of pipes in a big pipe organ. I'm sure we've all seen the famous scene of Captain Nemo playing his pipe organ in the saloon of the Nautilus while the storm rages on the surface above or, more recently, Captain Davey Jones playing his on the Flying Dutchman in Pirates II. These instruments, whether small chamber versions like those on the Nautilus or in many an evil genius' lair, or the massive organs in cathedrals and concert halls, are truly the "King of Instruments".

In their 19th c forms they were magnificent examples of wooden engineering, made of natural materials for the most part. Elegant machines of finely balanced levers, rollers, fine wires and leather clad close grained wood. Thousands of moving parts all aligned and adjusted to transmit the finest touch of the organist to the valve opening air to the base of a pipe that might be as small as a match stick or as big around as an ale barrel and over a hundred feet long!

The 400 illustrations included in this 1300 page masterwork, cover the whole range of mechanisms from the earliest Roman and Mediaeval instruments, played by slamming the keys with closed fists, to early 20th c pneumatic and electro-pneumatic systems.

A fantastic source of ideas on linking one motion to another in elegant and efficient ways.

Title
The Art of Organ-Building
A Comprehensive Historical, Theoretical, and Practical Treatise
on the
Tonal Appointment and Mechanical Construction
of Concert-Room, Church and Chamber Organs

Author
George Ashdown Audsley, LL.D.
Architect

Publisher
Dodd, Mead, and Company
New York

Date
1905
Dover Re-print 1965

ISBN: 0-486-21314-5

Keep your sight glass full and your firebox trimmed.
KJ

Follwing on from my recent post about the unofficial Steampunk anthem:
Just Glue Some Gears On It and Call it Steampunk
Here is an interesting web comic from Real Life  by Greg Dean.

  

This came from an interesting discussion by The Steampunk Scholar back in June of 2010.  The Steampunk Scholar is Mike Pershon, who holds a PhD in Steampunk Literature (!?! yup really!) and teaches at Grant MacEwan University.  In his post he talks about the elements of Steampunk technology and how while it is non-functional it is still interesting.

If all one had for research was the internet, you'd certainly be lead to think steampunk is just science fiction, focused as much of the art is on technology. Yet without an understanding of steampunk's regular dalliances with technofantasy, the joke of "but it doesn't really do anything" is all too appropriate.
Steampunk technology, on the whole, doesn't do anything, especially in its literary manifestation. That is to say, if you were to bring the technology of steampunk out of a book and into our world, it wouldn't work very well once it ran out of phlogiston or aether, or when you tried to invoke whatever arcane powers it runs on. It's very easy to assume that since the aesthetic device of technofantasy is pointless in terms of physical reality, it is likewise meaningless in its thematic content. Yet consider the relevance of the municipal Darwinism in Reeve's Mortal Engines, the underlying social contract theory of the living airship in Leviathan, and the complexity of constructing gender identities in The Alchemy of Stone. 

We play with technology as art, it doesn't have to do anything as long as it looks cool in the process.

I highly recommend you keep The Steampunk Scholar blog in your favourites, he has lots of great reviews and discussions there.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and yoour water iced.

KJ

A great book, compiling most of the information on Airship development as of 1917.
There is also an index of every airship used in the Great War, their technical specifications and career/fate.
From the preface:

An International Register of Airships with a Compendium of Airship's Elementary Mechanics

The present volume is the result of a methodical investigation extending over a period of four years in the course of which many hundreds of English, French, Italian, German and Spanish publications and periodicals dealing with the present status as well as with the early history of airships have carefully been consulted and digested. It has thus become possible to gather under the cover of a handy reference-book a large amount of hitherto widely scattered information which, having mostly been published in, foreign languages, was not immediately available to the English speaking public.

The information thus gathered is herewith presented in two parts; one being a compendium of the elementary principles underlying the construction and operation of airships, the other constituting an exhaustive, but tersely worded register of the world's airshipping which furnishes, whenever available, complete data for every airship of 500 cubic meters and over, that has been laid down since 1834. Smaller airships are listed only if they embody unusual features.

It has been attempted to furnish here the most up-to-date information regarding the gigantic fleet of airships built by Germany since the beginning of the Great War, a feature which may, in a certain measure, repay the reader for the utter lack of data on the Allies' recent airship constructions, which had to be withheld for military reasons. A revised and enlarged edition of D'Orcy's Airship Manual, in which all the airships built during the Great War will be listed and their features duly discussed, will be issued upon the termination of the war.

Ladislas d'Orcy, New York City (U. S. A.)

Available online here:
D'Orcy'S Airship Manual 1917
There is also a PDF file scanned from a copy of the book deposited at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY under the reference YC 68298.
Download the pdf version of the D'Orcy's Airship Manual.

Lots of detailed illustrations and period photos included.

Highly recommended if you are an airship buff (and who isn't).

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and water iced.
KJ

From Chriss Cornish, of the more Vikings book blog.
----------------------------------------

Steampunk Comics: A Reading List

Does your comic book reading need a hefty does of retro-futurism? Could your graphic novel collection use a dash of far future etherpunk western? Are your webcomic choices woefully bereft of Victorian scientists toting ray guns and having adventures?

Boy-howdy are you in luck, then!

There's quite a bit of steampunk fiction available in the good 'ol sequential media these days (as I found when last I assembled a steampunk reading list); from webcomics full of moody engineers in goggles to steampunk manga westerns set on alien planets.

Steampunk Comics Recommended Reading List
Here find a list of 20 highly recommended comics of various and sundry sort all disporting in that delightful retro-furturist speculative fiction genre we like to call...STEAMPUNK.

presented for your amusement & edification by moreVikings.
--------------------------------------------
There follows a massive list of awesome Steampunk linkage.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Ordered this DVD in the mail with 3.1 GB of pdf files, most are from the 19th c. and cover everything you always wanted to know about clocks, clock making and the repair of clocks and watches.
This fantastic horde of information cost me a whopping $14.00 (incl shipping)!
I found it here:
Homesteading Self Sufficiency Survival
They have lots of other collections of interesting info as well.

Here is what's on the DVD:

A Catalogue of Books, Manuscripts, Specimens of Clocks, Watches and Watchwork 1875 - 114 pages.pdf
A Description of a Clepsydra or Water-Clock 1753 - 8 pages.pdf
A Portion of the Papers Relating to the Great Clock 1848 - 55 pages.pdf
A Practical Course in Horology 1944 - 193 pages.pdf
A Practical Treatise on the Balance Spring 1876 - 150 pages.pdf
A Rudimentary Treatise on Clock and Watch Making 1850 - 304 pages.pdf
A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches and Bells for Public Purposes 1903 434 pages.pdf
A Treatise on Modern Horology in Theory and Practice 1887 - 895 pages.pdf
A Treatise on the Teeth of Wheels 1868 - 213 pages.pdf
A Ttreatise on Watch-Work, Past and Present 1873 - 320 pages.pdf
Abbott's American Watchmaker and Jeweler 1898 - 383 pages.pdf
Accutron Service Manual Series 214 - 39 pages.pdf
Accutron Service Manual Series 218 - 52 pages.pdf
American Horological Journal - Devoted to Practical Horology Vol 1 1869 - 287 pages.pdf
An Analysis of the Lever Escapement 1895 - 94 pages.pdf
Art of Engraving 1904 - 205 pages.pdf
Bangerters Inventions His Marvelous Time Clock 1911 - 92 pages.pdf
Catalogue of Waltham Watch material 1909 - 158 pages.pdf
Chats on Old Clocks 1917 - 299 pages.pdf
Clock and Watch Work 1855 - 189 pages.pdf
Clocks and Watches 1922 - 147 pages.pdf
Description of an Astronomical Clock 1837 - 2 pages.pdf
Directions for Using Bottum's Patent 1852 - 23 pages.pdf
Former Clock & Watchmakers and Their Work 1894 - 402 pages.pdf
Friction, Lubrication and the Lubricants in Horology 1896 - 93 pages.pdf
Government and Industry Interactions in the Development of Clock Technology 1981 - 22 pages.pdf
Horology - A Popular Sketch of Clock and Watch Making 1849 - 70 pages.pdf
Horology 1868 - 100 pages.pdf
How to Keep the Clock Right by Observations of the Fixed Stars 1876 - 98 pages.pdf
Isochronism of Balance-Springs 1862 - 30 pages.pdf
Kemlo's Watch-Repairer's Handbook - 1882 - 117 pages.pdf
Lessons in Horology Vol 1 1905 - 286 pages.pdf
Mechanical Philosophy, Horology, and Astronomy 1857 - 586 pages.pdf
Modern Electro Plating 1897 - 191 pages.pdf
Modern Letter Engraving in Theory and Practice - A Manual for the Use of Watchmakers 1898 - 185 pages.pdf