steamboating « jeff peachey

steamboating
Posted in book conservation by Jeff Peachey on August 23, 2010

I’d never heard this term before, but Nicholson puts it in quotes, suggesting it is some kind of workman’s slang, or at least an uncommon term. In describing cloth case binding, and how to use a plough, he writes. “If the volumes are small, a number may be cut at the same time. This mode of cutting is called ‘steamboating’”. This was originally written in 1856. Perhaps it is emblematic of the 19th century preoccupation with steam power in general, and how a machine can influence even the terminology of hand work.


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steamboating « jeff peachey