Work has exquisite comedic timing. As soon as I finish my grueling and silly clock project, it suggests that I construct a sundial. Seriously. I mentioned this to Ben, and the first thing he asked was, "What good is a sundial in England?"
Good question.
Now, we know that 123 years ago it was pretty fashionable to fill your garden with all sorts of junk. You couldn't be taken seriously unless you had a greenhouse, a sundial, and about eighteen of those reflective gazing balls ("yard globe" depending on where you're from). Still, maybe I'm underestimating the circulation that Work had. It's entirely possible that Cassell & Co. Ltd's distribution could have been empire-wide. Moreover, the British Empire and the Sun have been inextricably linked for all time by colloquialism, and not a little help from Noel Coward.
So yeah, sundials. Go figure. I, for one, do not detest a siesta, and I've had it up to here with horology. I'm going to close my eyes for a week and listen to music. -TIM
Disclaimer: Articles in Work: The Illustrated Weekly Journal for Mechanics describe materials and methods that would not be considered safe or advisable today. We are not responsible for the content of these magazines, and cannot take any responsibility for anyone attempting projects or procedures described therein.
The first issue of Work was published on March 23rd, 1889. The goal of this project is to release digital copies of the individual issues starting on the same date in 2012, effectively republishing the materials 123 years to the day from their original release.
The original printing was on thin, inexpensive paper. There are many cases of uneven inking and bleed-through from the page behind. Our copies of Work come from bound library volumes of these issues and are subject to unfavorable trimming, missing covers, etc. To minimize harm to these fragile volumes, we've undertaken the task of scanning the books ourselves. We do considerable post processing of the scans to make them clear but please bear with us if a margin is clipped too close, or a few words are unreadable. We would like to thank James Vasile and Karl Fogel for their help in supplying us with a book scanner and generally enabling this project to get off the ground.
You are welcome to download, print, and pretty much do what you want with the scan for your own personal purposes. Feel free to post a link or a copy on your blog or website. All we ask is a link back to the original project and this blog. We are not answering requests for commercial downloads or reprinting at this time.
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