Old Book Art » Other

Agricultural Cement Blueprints

John — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:37:47 +0000

Alpha Portland Cement Company Blueprints and Concrete Plans

These came in a folder that I found in an old box of maps and blueprints from an architect’s estate. Although not a book, they are in the public domain and interesting so I thought I would post some crude copies. I have not edited them or cleaned them up, and there is some loss to the margins on most of them because they were a bit too large for a scanner. The actual plans are almost all there, though. I figure anyone who is interested can clean them up after download if need be (although they are perfectly usable as they are now). I have posted them at very high resolution (about 6500 by 4500 pixels) to preserve details and lettering.

I gather this series, all from 1920-1920, was an effort by the Alpha Portland Cement Company to promote the use of concrete and cement in building. I think I have almost a complete set here, but I have no definitive reference as to what plans were included.

As always, these high resolution JPEG images are all free of charge and ready to be downloaded one at a time or in bulk via a ZIP file. Donations to support this site and project are always welcome, but by no means required.

Many of the originals I sold on eBay for $10 to $30 each. There is a small market for these as collectibles. I am happy to sell any originals I still have for $10 each. Here are the titles of those still available:

Here, in no particular order, are many sample images. All 38 or so images may be browsed and viewed in their full resolution in the GALLERY.

Combination Barn and Silo

Combination Fireproof Barn - Stalls for 20 Cows and 5 Horses

Concrete Boat Landing

Concrete Cattle Dipping Vat

Concrete Cellar Steps with Slideways

Concrete Curb and Gutter

Concrete Driveway and Culvert

Concrete Gate Posts

Concrete Hotbed

Concrete Poultry House

Concrete Poultry House (other side)

Concrete Sidewalk Construction

Concrete Steps and Porch with Suggestions for the Construction of Forms

Concrete Storage Cellar

Concrete Storage Cellar for Fruit and Vegetable Farm with Washing and Packing House

Design of Hopper Feeder for Soft Coal Handling

Design for Concrete Dam

Fire Proof Milk House

Concrete Tennis Court

Greenhouse with Concrete Walls, Floors and Benches

Ice House with Concrete Walls Containing Ice and Milk Rooms

Plan for Underground Concrete Tank with Capacity of 15000 Gallons

Ratproof Corncrib

Reinforced Concrete Coal Pockets

Reinforced Concrete Septic Tank

Two Types of Winter Hog Houses Constructed of Concrete Throughout with Concrete Feeding Floor and Troughs

Type of Dipping Vat for Hogs and Sheep

Type Reinforced Concrete Building for Warehouse or Storage

Types of Small Concrete Retaining Walls for Terraces and Embankments

Typical Details for Concrete Foundations

Sectional Concrete Flower Box and Garden Seat

Silo with Reinforced Concrete Walls, Foundation & Roof

Small Building of Reinforced Concrete with Reinforced Concrete Roof

Small Concrete Storage Cellar

Smoke House of Reinforced Concrete - Fire Box Placed on Outside of Building

Spring House of Reinforced Concrete

Two Types of Garden Pools of Concrete - Cast with Foundation in One Continuous Operation

Two Types of Manure Pits of Concrete Construction - Simple Uncovered Pit and Covered Structure with Overhead Runway from Barn

Two Types of Watering Troughs of Concrete - Cast with Foundation in One Continuous Operation

Varia: A Huge Hodgepodge of Images

John — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:58:02 +0000

This is a collection of images shared with me by the man who scanned them from various antique bibles and other old books, including: Mathematical Astronomy by C.W.C. Barlow & G.H. Bryan (1893); Dawn of Astronomy by Sir Norman Lockyer (late 1800′s); Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria (1912); An Illustrated History of the Holy Bible, published by Henry Bill (1871); and The Holy Bible, published by John E. Potter and Company (late 1800′s).

Rather than being organized by the book they come from, they are roughly organized by subject. This is because they were given to me this way by the person who scanned them, William Struse, and I have kept his organization. The images are all public domain and he shared them with me with the understanding they would be offered for free here. He has only thumbnails on his site, and this was an easy way for him to share the larger images with a broader audience. The maximum size of each image varies greatly. I have edited them extensively to clean up the dirt and shadows and to darken, brighten, and otherwise enhance the lines. A lot of text shows through from the obverse side of the leaves, but there was little that could be done about that. I have been working on the captions, but so far have gotten to only about half of them. There are close to 500 images in all.

Within the main GALLERY PAGE for this collection there are 14 separate albums, roughly sorted by subject. They are:

Animals
Birds
Coins
Dwellings
Insects
Jewelry
Maps
Musical Instruments
Plants
Ships and Vehicles
Temples and Priests
Trees
Weapons
Other Images

Below are some sample image from each album. Each thumbnail image will lead directly to that pictures page in the sub-album of the gallery. Keep in mind there are many more images in the gallery than shown here.

ANIMALS

Mole-Rat

Wild Boar

Camels

Egyptian Asses

Egyptian Frogs

Horse

Serpent

Snake

Syrian Bear

Wild Goats

Wolf

BIRDS

Crane

Cormorant

Ospray (Osprey)

Owl

Stork

Vulture

Quail

COINS

Coin of Augustus

Coin of Agrippa

Coin of Macedonia

Denarius of Tiberius

various

DWELLINGS

Arab Huts and Sheep-cotes at Busheir

Tents

Tent and Man with Spear

Egyptian House

Walled City

INSECTS

Egyptian Fly

Hornet

Locusts

Pyramidal Nests of the White Ant

Scorpion

Spider

Turret Nests of the White Ant

JEWELRY

Assyrian Ear-rings

Different Forms of Eastern Crowns

Ear-rings

Egyptian Ring Money

Flambeaux, from Roman Gems

Hhegabs, or Amulets, of Modern Egypt

Khizam, or Nose-jewel, of modern Egypt

MAPS

Acre & Environs

Bethleem, Beit-Lahm

Dome of the Rock, Temple Mount

Environs of the Monastery of Mt. Sinai and of the Jebel Musa

Jaffa

Plan of Babylon

Southern Palestine

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

"Dulcimer" or Bagpipe

A Player on the Harp

Double-Flute Players

Egyptian Harp

Modern Egyptian Flute Player

Muse with an early form of lyre

Oriental Instruments of the Drum Kind

Roman Trumpet

Tambourine Players

PLANTS

Cassia

Cinnamon

Ears of Corn

Frankincense

Grapes of Palestine

Lign-Aloe

Melon

Spices - Nutmeg

Reeds

Sweet Cane

Rose of Sharon

Thorn

Buds of Spices - Pepper, Chestnut, catkins, florets, stamens, pistils

SHIPS AND VEHICLES

Ancient Chariot

Ancient Egyptian and Roman Ships

Ancient Egyptian War Chariot

Ancient Rowing Vessels

Camels, a Caravan

Tabernacle

Boats conveying stone and timber

Ethiopian Car, Drawn by Oxen

Turkish Arabah, or Cart

TEMPLES AND PRIESTS

Altar of burnt offering

Altar of Incense

Costume of the High Priest

The Golden Candlestick

High Priests on the day of Atonement

The Holy of Holies and the Officiating High Priest

Interior of the Tabernacle - the veil between the holy places removed

Moses Consecrating Aaron

Aaron with the Scape-goat showing Costume of the High Priest and Levites (scapegoat sacrifice)

Ram's-Horn Blower

Service of Gershonites

Service of the Merarites

Probable form of the Table of Showbread - Priests removing the old and placing the new

The Ark of the Covenant

The Molten Sea

Trespass Offering of the Poor

The Tabernacle in the Midst of the Encampment

TREES

Almond Tree - Amygdalus commums

Bamboo Tree

Commmon Elm - Ulmus Campestris

Date-Palm - Phoenix dactylifera

Fig Leaves

Fruit of Palm

Fruit of the Pinus Pinea, or Stone Pine

Gopher Wood - Cupressus Sempervirens

Sycainore Figs - Ficus Sycamorus

Tree planted by the waters

Wild Date Palm, found in the Sinai mountains

Wormwood - Artemisia absinthium

WEAPONS

Ancient Helmets and Coats of Mail

Ancient Persian Shields and Spears

Ancient Roman Combat

Ancient Swords and Daggers

Archers of Bowmen - bows arrows and shield

Catapulta

Balista prepared for discharge of a stone

Egyptian Fencers

Egyptian Maces and Clubs, Syrian Maces and Clubs

Man in Scale Armor

Ancient Armor, Persian Horseman

Testudo, or Tortoise-Shield

Throwing a Javelin

OTHER

Alabaster Boxes

Ancient Well

Assyrian seal or cylinder of Sennacherib

Assyrian Shoes

Clog Almanac - Raxon Reive Pole

Egyptian Needle-work

Fine Lime-grinding Mill at Cairo

Girl pouring Wine from a leathern Bottle

Mummy Cases and Marble Sarcophagi

Patterns of Egyptian Moasaic

Roman Lantern, Column of Trajan, Roman Flambeaux

Sheepcotes

Various Forms of Ancient Sun Dials

Ur of the Caldees

Use of the Style - From Montfaucon's Paleographia Graeca

Daniel in the Lions' Den

A Slow Transformation (Updated)

John — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:04:36 +0000

Well, now everything actually has been transferred to the Gallery, including about 100 “orphaned” images I found on my site which had not been linked to previously.

Please continue to give me any feedback about how this new site looks to and works for you. I appreciate all input and will continue to tweak things to make it work better. I have added a translator box now which I hpe will help any non-English reading guests. I will “de-stickify” this post soon.

- John