Science and the City: Valentine Gottlieb, immigrant engineer of Lambeth: his trade card of c. 1810 unpacked

Bryden, David

Science and the City: Valentine Gottlieb, immigrant engineer of Lambeth: his trade card of c. 1810 unpacked

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Journal article

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Bryden, David

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May 26, 2021

Abstract

Born in Biebrich, J V Gottlieb was an economic migrant who settled in London in the mid 1770s, initially working as a hairdresser before establishing himself as a mechanical engineer, designing and selling cranes and other machinery. An illustrated trade card in the Science Museum collections provides material evidence of his activities and an opportunity to examine the roles played by such advertising in the development of the technology and commerce of the period. The iconography of this unique item of printed ephemera is used to outline Gottlieb’s various inventive activities. Gottlieb patented his crane designs (1786) and a form of friction-reducing bearing (1787). He successfully lobbied government to install his design of a mechanical perpetual ship’s log to two newly-designed fast postal packets commissioned in 1790 for the North American and West Indian mail service. He also advertised his services in the London press. Gottlieb was a small player in fields where there were many competitors, and the business terminated with the death of the founder in 1820. In addition to uncovering the life and work of a relatively unknown immigrant engineer, this paper indicates how a detailed study of a small ephemeral museum object can unlock wider historical horizons.