Praise for William Elliott
"Our commercial system, with its extreme division of labour, so excellent in plan for the production and distribution of merchandise, seems to fail in the advancement of some scientific manufactures —and the mathematical instrument trade is one of these. Once upon a time it was the fashion for the vendor in this line to be a workman. The idea of our forefathers was, that the workshop completed the necessary education of the shopkeeper—the reader can imagine how he lacked the etiquette of the counter— but somehow he could comprehend his customers’ wants, and knew how to adapt them to his trade. For many years since, the old system, as a rule, has been abandoned, with the striking effect that the patterns of the ordinary drawing instruments from this time have remained the same. Every rule has an exception —to this there is an especially worthy one: a very scientific workman, the late Mr. Wm. Elliot, encouraged his fellow-workmen to excel in mathematical drawing instruments, and he was the greatest honour to the trade in the past half-century."
William Ford Stanley, A descriptive treatise on mathematical drawing instruments, preface to the first edition (dated June 1866), taken from pp. vi-vii of the 5th edition of 1878 (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3135387)
Related Objects:
- Inventory No. 12684, "Halftone Printing Block of William Elliott Apprenticeship Indenture, c.1948" [2003-11]
- Inventory No. 12944, "Box of Drawing Instruments, by William Elliott, London, 1841" [2003-11], Elliott Brothers
- Inventory No. 14679, "Rolling Parallel Rule, by William Elliott, London, c.1830" [2015-3/4], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14680, "Parallel Rule, by William Elliott, London, c.1830" [2015-3/5], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14681, "Sector, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/6], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14685, "Set of Offset Drawing Scales, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/7], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14686, "Napier Compass and Rule Set, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/8], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14687, "Pocket Case of Drawing Instruments, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/9], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14688, "Circular Protractor, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/10], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14689, "Semicircular Protractor, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/11], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14690, "Rectangular Protractor, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/12], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14691, "Architect's Scale Rule, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/13], Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14693, "Set of Architect's Scales, by Elliott Brothers and William Elliott, London, Mid 19th Century" [2015-3/14], Elliott Brothers, Elliott, William
- Inventory No. 14695, "Sector, by William Elliott & Sons, London, Early 1850s" [2015-3/15], W. Elliott & Sons
- Inventory No. 14696, "Box Sextant, by William Elliott & Sons, London, Early 1850s" [2015-3/16], W. Elliott & Sons
- Inventory No. 14708, "Architect's Scale Rule, by William Elliott, London, 1830s or 1840s" [2015-3/25], Elliott, William