| Description | Mints and Mint Engines (62 items).
Departments, Machinery & Apparatus:
[Most of these drawings were made at Soho, and show the various departments or "apartments" of the mint and some of the machinery and apparatus.]
Reverse plan of part of the mint (silver melting, rolling mill, cutting out, etc.), longitudinal section through the engine houses and rolling mill, longitudinal section through one of the 40 horse engine houses, cutting out frame and fly wheel etc; plan and section of the shaking department - coloured duplicate; plan and side view of the milling machine frame and pulleys etc. - reverse drawings; plan and sections of the milling room - coloured duplicate and reverse drawings; section and plan of the shaking apartment - reverse drawings; section of the cutting out apartment, plan and sections of the shaking from oil apartment, plan and sections of the annealing furnaces, plan and elevations of the die hardening furnaces, plan of the cutting out apartment, plan and elevations of the die forging and multiplying apartments, plan and section of the general workshop, plans of the various shafts and tunnels, plan and sections of the muffle and boiler for blanching and pickling - coloured duplicate and reverse drawings; side view and plan of the exhausting pump - partially coloured reverse drawings; plan and section of the cutting out workshop - partially coloured duplicate and reverse drawings. All these drawings bear letter codes.
Also the following uncoded drawings: plan of the rolling mill marked "from Mr. Walker 26 Jun. 1821"; section and plan of the coining room; coloured sections of the copper foundry and plan of the copper melting house; coloured sections of the gold and silver refineries and melting houses; coloured plan of the gold and silver refineries and melting houses.
Also the following rough sketches, working drawings etc.: sketch section of part of cutting out room [?], 13 Apr. 1821; sketches of 14 and 24 horse engine fly wheels, plan and section of shafts for driving triturating machinery marked "Mr. Walker 9 Aug. 1821"; memorandum by Zaccheus Walker of articles remaining to be executed by Boulton Watt & Co., 18 Dec. 1821; sketch section and plan of vacuum pump bucket, 22 Apr. 1822; sketch plan and section of clutch etc., Sep. 1822; plans sections of tightening pulleys, Dec. 1822; plan and section of shafts, wheels etc. marked "to be destroyed when the regular drawings are done"; sketch section of smiths' hearth; cutting out machinery connection [?]; sketch of base of upright shaft [?]; sketch of a valve [?].
Also tracing of a circular saw table marked "one ordered for Calcutta Mint from William Middleton 30 Jan. 1860".
Plans of the Mint:
[These drawings are plans of the whole mint complex. Most were sent to Boulton Watt & Co. by the East India Co.]
Rough plan, 22 Oct. 1805, and undated larger scale rough plan [circa Oct. 1805?]. These two plans show a similar design for the mint complex which was not followed, but which is similar to the design shown in the later plans. These drawings are assumed to be for the Calcutta Mint but neither is marked as such. Both drawings bear pencil amendments.
Partially coloured plan and copy, not dated.
These plans show a similar design to the 1805 plan. These drawings are assumed to be for the Calcutta Mint but neither is marked as such.
Plan proposed by the East India Co. for a Mint at Calcutta, not dated [circa Jan. 1821?].
This plan is similar to the final design, but shows two 30 horse engines on either side of the rolling mill.
Proposed Plan of the Calcutta Mint, with reverse copy, not dated [circa Jan.-Feb. 1821?]
These two plans are drawn on squared paper, and would appear to show the almost as constructed. All five engines are shown, and the original is marked with dotted lines tracing the movement of materials through the various mint departments.
Plan of the Calcutta Mint (with elevation of the frontage), not dated [circa Feb. 1821?].
Smaller scale plan than the above. The design is virtually identical to the "Proposed Plan…" above, and some pencil amendments have been made. The plan is identical to that depicted in the "reverse plan of part of the mint" (see under Departments, Machinery & Apparatus) which was drawn in Feb. 1821. There is a drawing of the frontage on the same sheet.
Plans of the mint [Feb. 1821?].
Two plans, each showing half of the mint. The top part would appear to be the original from which the "reverse plan of part of the mint" (see under Departments, Machinery & Apparatus) was made in Feb. 1821. These plans feature the same pencil amendments as the "Plan of the Calcutta Mint" above.
Memorandum "Mint and Coining Apartments".
List of the various departments and rooms of the Mint and their dimensions, with a few extra remarks.
Original Portfolio or 'Book' Nos. 744. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 160.
For the Calcutta Mint. The drawings of the mint and machinery were originally in Books Nos. 744 and 745. Matthew Robinson Boulton was given these portfolios in 1841 as a result of the dissolution of his partnership with James Watt Jr. He appears not to have kept all the drawings, and had others copied. These were then replaced in a single book numbered 744.
See also: Incoming Correspondence.
|