Heritage collection

The BSRIA Heritage Collection contains publications on the history of building services, as well as books, articles, reports and trade literature dating from the mid-nineteenth century which are now considered to be of historical interest. For early issues of journals, please see our journals collection.

The Heritage collection is available for reference at our library.

*Search tip: try using the 'advanced' search and adding the keyword 'history' to the 'keywords' field.  

Heritage items in the BSRIA collection include.... 

Lighting
The art of illumination by Bell L (1902) 
Flickering flames. A history of domestic lighting through the ages by Thwing L (1958) 
A history of electric light and power by Bowers B (1982) 
Lengthening the day. A history of lighting technology by Bowers B (1998) 
Gas lighting by Gledhill D (1999) 
Artificial sunshine. A social history of domestic lighting by Dillon M (2002) 
The electric light. Thomas Edison's illuminating invention by Sonneborn L (2007) 
The pageant of the lamp. The story of the electric lamp by General Advertising Company of London Ltd (2008)

Sanitation
The sanitation of domestic buildings by Latham F, Latham B (January 1898) 
Domestic sanitation and house drainage by Adams H C (January 1923) 
Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great Britain by Chadwick E (January 1942) 
Cleanliness and Godliness or the further metamorphosis by Reynolds R (January 1946) 
A manual of technical plumbing and sanitary science by Bennett S B (January 1956) 
Victorian showers by McGibbon:J. (July 1984) 
Flushed with pride. The story of Thomas Crapper by Reyburn W (January 1989) 
Surrey privies. A nostalgic trip down the garden path by Janaway J (January 1999) 
Bogs, baths & basins. The story of domestic sanitation y Eveleigh D J (January 2002) 

Heating, Ventilation, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
The ventilation of coal mines by Fairley W (January 1882) 
The ventilation, heating and lighting of dwellings by Thomas J W (January 1906) 
Principles of heating, ventilating and air conditioning by Greene A M (January 1936) 
The ventilation and heating of ships by Bullen F. L. (March 1950) 
The ventilation of hospital wards - a historical survey by Legg:R:C. (1978) 
100 years of air conditioning by Nagengast B (June 2002) 
Poisonous atmospheres: ventilation and the late nineteenth century building by Stephens J (March 2003) 
Heat and cold. Mastering the great indoors. A selective history of heating, ventilation,air conditioning and refrigeration from the Ancients to the 1930s by Donaldson B, Nagengast B, USA American Society of Heating [...]
A history of refrigerants by Nagengast:B:A. (1989)
The History of refrigeration. Part I: Introduction. by Oldham:B:C. (1965) 
Icehouses by Buxbaum T (1992)
A historical review of the art of heating and ventilating. by Billington:N:S., (June 1955) 
Keeping warm by Harris E (1982) 
A history of heating in Europe by Roberts:B:M. (1995) 
The heating system of the Roman baths by Basaran T. (2007) 
A brief history of heating by Braithwaite P (April 2008)

Building services in general
A social history of engineering by Armytage W H G (January 1976)
Fifty years of change by Billington:N:S. (1981) 
The UK construction industry by Dunican:P. (1985)
Building services - then, now and into the future by Gregory:D. (September 1988) 
100 years of building services, 1897 to 1997 by CIBSE, Bunn R, Roberts B, Arnold D, et al (December 1997) 
Building services heritage by Roberts B, CIBSE Heritage Group (2003)

Biographies
John Gorrie - Pioneer of cooling and ice making. by Nagengast:B., (January 1991) 
Recollections of Willis H. Carrier by Ashley:C:M. (October 1994) 
Henry Lea. Consulting engineer 1839-1912 by Tovey J (November 2008) 
James Harrison and the birth of mechanical refrigeration by Gosney:W:B. (March 1995) 
Hermann Rietschel's life and achievements by Usemann:K:W. (1995)
Henry L. Galson - pioneer designer of self-contained air conditioning equipment by Galson:E:L., Galson:A:E. (1995)

Society histories
British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association 1920-1945 (1945) 
Electricity and woman by Randell W L (1950) 
The Institution of Gas Engineers. The first hundred years 1863-1963 by Braunholtz W. T. K., (1963) 
BRS and its role by Building Research Establishment, Dick J B (June 1971) 
The Institute of Fuel: The first 50 years by Hayman R. (1977) 
Society of British Gas Industries. The first century 1905-2005. An illustrated history […] by Pinchin T (2005) 
HVCA. The first 100 years by Heating and Ventilating Review (January 2004) 
One hundred years of Competence and Commitment. An illustrated history of the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering by Watson N (January 2005)

Donations
The library welcomes donations - find out more about donations and how to you can support the library or contact the library at information@bsria.co.uk or (+44) (0)1344 465571.