[Painted by G.Opie, engraved by Samuel Bellin.]
[Henry Graves & Co, 1866.]
Mezzotint on india, proof before letters, Printsellers' Association blindstamp. Plate 518 x 411mm. 20½ x 16¼". Scarce, bit dirty, with large margins.
James Meadows Rendel (1799-1856), civil engineer. Rendel was employed by Thomas Telford before setting up his own business in Plymouth. His greatest enterprises were the harbours at Holyhead (1845), Portland (1847) and St. Peter Port, Guernsey (1850). He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1852-3. In 1831 he introduced a new system of crossing rivers by means of chain ferries worked by steam, and in 1832 he constructed a floating bridge on this principle, crossing the Dart at Dartmouth. Between 1832 and 1834 similar floating bridges were erected at Torpoint and Saltash across the Tamar, which greatly facilitated the intercourse between Devon and Cornwall.
PSA: AP.25. BL.25.
[Ref: 22531]  £280.00