Inventing the 19th Century

Dishwashers, electric light bulbs, gramophones, motion picture cameras, radios, roller skates, typewriters. While these inventions seem to speak of the 20th century, they all in fact date from the 19th century. The Victorian age (1837-1901) was a period of enormous technological progress in communications, transport and many other areas of life. Illustrated by the original patent drawing from The British Library’s extensive collection, this book chronicles the history of the 100 most important, innovative and memorable inventions of the 19th century. The vivid picture of the Victorian age unfolds as inventions from the ground-breaking – such as aspirin, dynamite, and the telephone – to the everyday – like blue jeans and tiddlywinks – are revealed decade by decade. Together they provide a vivid picture of Victorian life. Along with informative descriptions of how the inventions and their patenting came about, the lives of the inventors and their circumstances provide entertaining insights into this world. For example, Almon Strowger invented the automatic telephone exchange as he was convinced that telephone operators were giving his business to a rival firm of undertakers.
The Ritty brothers designed a cash register to prevent the bartenders they employed from cheating them. And Adalbert Kwiatkowski, among many Victorians preoccupied with the risk of premature burial, invented a coffin that would sound an alarm upon the slightest movement of an apparently dead body. This follow-up volume to Stephen van Dulken’s “Inventing the 20th Century” is aime at anyone anyone interested in inventors and the “age of machines.” From the cash register to the safety pin, from the machine gun to the pocket protector, and from lawn tennis to the light bulb, “Inventing the 19th Century” is a window on to the Victorian Age.

Author Biography

The author of Inventing the 20th Century: 100 Inventions that Shaped the World and American Inventions: A History of Curious, Extraordinary, and Just Plain Useful Patents (both available through NYU Press), Stephen Van Dulken is an expert curator in the Patents Information Service of The British Library.