HENRY WINSTANLEY AND THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE.

UK,slim,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean matt, historical colour and monochrome illustrated dw/dj,with red+black lettering to front panel,and white,black+red lettering to spine/backstrip of dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,would appear unread - apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,slim, small 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vii-xvpp+1-208pp [paginated] includes a list/table of plates,a co- author's preface,acknowledgements,a timeline, 9 chapters and an epilogue,12pp historical and contemporary monochrome illustration reproductions and photographs in 1 block, between pp80/1,notes,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+ title pages and a contents list/ table. On 26 November 1703,during the worst storm ever recorded in Britain,Henry Winstanley died in his lighthouse when it was blown away.Inland,the howling wind lifted men and animals off their, ripped lead roofs like tissue paper off churches, and completely flattened 800 houses. Henry Winsanley had been an ingenious man.An engraver and Clerk of Works at Audley End in Essex,he built himself a house full of gadgets and practical jokes,and charged visitors a shilling admission.In 1695,following the loss of two of his ships on the Eddystone Reef,14 miles soutn of Plymouth,he determined that no more vessels should founder there,and volunteered to build a lighthouse.No one had ever built a lighthouse on a rock in the open sea,and many said it could not be done.Continually thwarted by weather and politics,he struggled for three years before he was able to light the first candles in the strange building on the reef.His lighthouse survived for five years, its flickering candlelight warning sailors away from the treacherous rocks.In the Great Storm,however, Winstanley's lighthouse was smashed to pieces.In this book,Adam Hart-Davis and Emily Troscianko tell the story of the world's first offshore lighthouse,the character of the man who with grim determination built it against all odds, and the power of the elements that finally destroyed them both. Adam Hart-Davis is a writer,broadcaster and photographer,best known for presenting 'Tomorrow's World','What the Victorians Did for Us','What the Romans Did for Us',and eight series of 'Local Heroes'.He has also written fifteen books,including 'The Local Heroes Book of British Ingenuity' and 'More Local Heroes' with Paul Bader. For Emily Troscianko,Hart-Davis's wife's daughter,this is her first book. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight of this item for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **