Page 117 - Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript Americana - Sale 2310 - April 16, 2013

258 ● (SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.) Hopkins, C. The Watchmaker’s and
Jeweler’s Hand-Book. 40, [3] pages. 12mo, original printed wrappers, minor wear;
moderate foxing; faint owner’s inked stamp on from wrapper. 4 copies in WorldCat.
Louisville, KY, 1866 [250/350]
259 ● (SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.) Archive of explosives engineer
William G. Ramsay. Several hundred items, 1.2 linear feet; condition varies, but many
items are worn or dampstained. Vp, 1861-1910, bulk 1883-99 [300/400]
William Gouverneur Ramsay (1866-1916) was a University of Virginia graduate. From
1892 to 1898, he served as a salesman for the Repauno Chemical Company (a dynamite
manufacturer) and Eastern Dynamite Company, both DuPont subsidiaries. During the
Spanish-American War Ramsay organized a company of the 1st United States Engineers regiment,
rising to the rank of major. He then formed the Great Northern Manufacturing Company in
Terre Haute, Indiana, selling explosives for use in the local coal mines. From 1903 until his
death, he supervised construction of numerous explosives factories for DuPont, and was an
important figure in Du Pont’s rapid expansion during those years.
This wide-ranging collection includes material from Ramsay’s student days, military career, and
work for Repauno and Great Northern. Dozens of letters from Ramsay to his parents are
included; his father Joseph Gales Ramsay was a career artillery officer who had served at Bull
Run. Also included are numerous letters from Ramsay to his wife while setting up the Great
Northern operation in Terre Haute, 1899. His military files include a detailed muster-in roll
for his company including signatures. Ramsay also began a diary in 1883, while working as an
engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad before attending college, and continuing through
a semester at the University of Virginia, where he describes this disturbing racially-motivated
assault: “The fellows went out after the crowd that caught them several nights ago, and caught
one nigger and d-d near killed him. Very sorry that I arrived too late to participate in the fun.
In at 1 a.m.” (20 April 1885). Finally, the collection includes numerous photographs, many of
them relating to bridge construction for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and others of Mayan
ruins from an 1898 trip to Yucatán. More detailed inventory available upon request.
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