Holland, John P.

15 pages (10 1/4 x 8 1/4 in.; 259 x 213 mm) written in ink and joined, within plain wrappers, at top margin by two brass clasps, 10 related blue print drawings clasped or tipped in throughout, Newark, New Jersey, 24 July 1891. Accompanied by a large folding blue print of " Protected Submerging Torpedo Boat" designed by Holland, folded and titled and signed by him ("J. P. Holland—Designer") on verso; worn and splitting at folds.

15 pages (10 1/4 x 8 1/4 in.; 259 x 213 mm) written in ink and joined, within plain wrappers, at top margin by two brass clasps, 10 related blue print drawings clasped or tipped in throughout. Accompanied by a large folding blue print of " Protected Submerging Torpedo Boat" designed by Holland, folded and titled and signed by him ("J. P. Holland—Designer") on verso; worn and splitting at folds.
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John Holland, an Irish engineer who immigrated to the United States, is widely considered to be the father of modern submarine design. But during a period of discouragement when he won an 1888 U.S. Navy Department competition for a submarine design and yet was not awarded a contract to build the vessel, he turned his attention to the problem of mechanical flight.

The present manuscript, which draws heavily on his experience with submarines, seems to be a prospectus to attract investment. The text has an optimistic tone throughout and concludes with a list of eleven "Patentable Points." Holland begins his treatise by claiming that there should be no impediment to the development of "a simple, practicable [flying] machine": "It will be news to many that there is reason to expect anything but failure in attempts to navigate the air, that there is no unsolved problem to be faced, no extraordinary difficulties to be encountered, … nothing required for the successful operation of a flying machine that has not been done and proved repeatedly, and that there is required only a suitable design combining appliances in every day use." After failing to attract backing for his aircraft designs, Holland returned to development of submarines, and in 1893 he formed the Holland Torpedo Boat Company, which would design the first submarine formally commissioned by the United States Navy, as well the first Royal Navy submarine, the eponymous Holland 1.