Hiram Maxim autobiography
 

Hi,

As most of you know, Hiram S. Maxim, U.S. born inventor stood at the cradle of the toggle-lock mechanism, the famous Maxim machinegun and thus the Luger as we know it today.

I have developed an interest in the product range developed and marketed by DWM, amongs which was a copy of the Maxim, built in license. This machine gun was initially known as the 'Parabellum Machinegun', later better known as the MG08.

Several Luger sources, amongst them John Walter, refer to Maxim's autobiography more than once and I also found a interesting 1930's publication by Engelbrecht and Hanighen which discussed the international arms market during the interbellum. This publication 'Merchants of Death' provides a reasonably objective (in spite of the title) view into 1920's and 1930 international arms dealing and it again referred to Maxim's 1915 autobiography 'My Life'.

I decided to see if I could hold of a copy and after some searching I found one lurking at a New York antique book auctioneer.

The book arrived today and turned out to be somewhat of a surprise. It is in a very good condition, especially for a 90-year old copy and is littered with annotations and remarks in pencil. Apart from that, on the first page the text 'Maxim's own copy -- corrected notation' is handwritten.

The book also contained two newspaper clippings, also dating from 1915, from a newspaper discussing the memorial service of Elbert Hubbard and his wife, who died when the Lusitania was sunk by a German sub. Both articles have references to Maxim's brother, Hudson Maxim, who urged the USA to join the war against Germany.....The page where the clippings were stored has discolored as a result of the clippings being there for a very, very long time....

It appears that I did not get 'a' copy of Maxim's autobiography, but rather one from the Maxim family....I wouldn't dare to hope that the handwriting is Hiram S. Maxim's, but I do suspect it to be Hudson Maxim's.


From one of the cover pages: 'Maxim's own copy -- corrected notation'
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim01.jpg

Annotated page with the remark 'Original **** and bull story'
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim02.jpg

Last page, cover. List of pages with remarks.
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim03.jpg

Newspaper clippings, found in the book, dated may 24th, 1915.
'NY Times'
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim04.jpg

Quite an interesting find Gerben... thanks for sharing it with us all!

Bibliophilia is a dreadful affliction. Once stricken, you will never recover. The malady can replace other, lesser, addictions and become consuming.

I have owned several such books (sporting and hunting) which were annotated by the authors and included additional treasures such as were included with your Maxim copy. These books, some with an age of 150-200 years, almost enable one to commune with the author.

This is the stuff for philosophers, not gun enthusiasts.

Philosophy and gun enthusiasm are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Wonderful find Gerben. Thanks for sharing.

Gerben,

This is an amazing find! But, please tell me what happened with Hiram and the bull!!!

I agree Ron... if one cannot philosophize about gun enthusiasm, what then shall we philosophize about? :D

You fellers are getting too deep for me. Wish I had never made such an left-handed remark. Too early in the morning, you know.

Congratulations. I'd love to find something like that.

Hi Don,

He slowly approached the bull and lodged himself on the tail as an anchor. The bull would tumble over and he'd keep it on the ground, getting the bull by the horns. (at least, that's what he claimed :) ).

Wes, thanks for the comments. I'm afraid I'm starting to get hooked on period documentation...Especially in the Luger collecting era, where most documentation is from the 3rd hand and at best from the 2nd, it's refreshing and most interesting to read the 1st hand accounts.

His remarks on the quality of English workmanship (or rather the lack of it) and the tendency of workmen to find just about any excuse to get drunk was rather entertaining. I'll try to post some scans of the illustrations as well, some excellent Maxim demonstration photographs.

Gerbin what a wouderful find . Did you know before hand that these articles and notes were in the book. What Luck, strange what turns up in odd places.

Hi Richie,

No I didn't. Purchased the book as 'just another copy'. I wrote the auctioneer to ask whether they had any information on the source of the book. I hope that'll shed more light on this interesting book.

It's actually a very entertaining read and I was able to gain some insight into the slightly narcist mind of a pretty intelligent inventor. Never realised his involvement in electric lighting, wood turning and painting.

He trodded along the Vermont area as well, btw. :)

Well,

Decided to scan some of the more interesting illustrations from the book.

The first one is quite well-known and has featured in a number of Maxim-related publications. This is the source of all of them:

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim_mg_01.jpg

These are interesting. Two detail photographs of the Maxim toggle system. Most probably his own hand holding it.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim_part_01.jpg

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim_part_02.jpg

This one was taken while demonstrating the Maxim machinegun to Chinese officials. Most efficient, although a little expensive tree felling equipment.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/maxim_test.jpg