David Van Nostrand

David Van Nostrand
Born	(1811-12-05)December 5, 1811 New York,New York
Died	June 14, 1886(1886-06-14)(aged 74) New York, New York
Occupation	Publisher

David Van Nostrand(December 5, 1811 – June 14, 1886) was a New York City publisher.

Biography

David Van Nostrand was born inNew York Cityon December 5, 1811.He was educated at Union Hall,Jamaica, New York,and in 1826 entered the publishing house of John P. Haven, who gave him an interest in the firm when he became of age. In 1834 he formed a partnership with William Dwight, but thefinancial crisis of 1837led to its dissolution. Van Nostrand then accepted an appointment as clerk of accounts and disbursements under CaptainJohn G. Barnard,at that time in charge of the defensive works ofLouisianaand Texas, with headquarters atNew Orleans.While so engaged he devoted attention to the study of scientific and military affairs, and on his return to New York City he began the importation of military books for officers of theU.S. Army,afterward receiving orders from private individuals and from academic institutions for foreign books of science. His place of business was at first at the corner of John Street and Broadway. He founded the firm D. Van Nostrand Company in 1848.

As his trade increased, he began the publication of standard works by American authors on military and scientific subjects. This extension, with the growing demands for books on scientific subjects, led him to move his firm to 23 Murray Street, where he continued until his death. In 1869 he began the publication ofVan Nostrand's Engineering Magazine,a monthly journal, which was devoted to selections from foreign sources, but also contained original papers on railroads, iron work, hydraulics, water reservoirs, sewage works, ventilation and mathematics (for examples).The magazine represented an early entry into theSTEM fieldsarea of publishing. Links to the volumes are given below, where a sample article is listed from each volume.

In 1884 J.C. Derby quotedNicholas Trübner's characterization of Van Nostrand as "a gentleman of extensive and varied information, of genial and attractive character, eminent business capacity..."He also noted that beyond military titles, Van Nostrand published books byJulius Weisbachon mechanics,James B. Francison hydraulics,Quincy Gillmoreon limes and cement, and bothSquire WhippleandJohn A. Roeblingon bridge building. The twelve volume digest of theAmerican Civil War,The Rebellion RecordbyFrank Moorewas published by Van Nostrand. A biography ofNapoleon,authored byAntoine-Henri Jomini,was translated byH. W. Halleck,an associate from New Orleans. He publishedStephen Luce's textbook on seamanship for the U.S. Naval Academy.

James Clerk Maxwell's introduction tokinetic theoryin his bookMatter and Motionwas first re-printed in theEngineering Magazineand subsequently by Van Nostrand in its own binding.

Van Nostrand was one of the founders of theSt. NicholasandHollandsocieties, and was an early member of theCenturyandUnion Leagueclubs of New York City.

He died in New York City on June 14, 1886.

Engineering Magazine

TheMagazineappeared monthly and carried articles from other publications as well as some written for Van Nostrand. Each issue contained current information: Reports of Engineering Societies, Engineering notes, Iron & Steel notes, Railway notes, Ordnance and Naval, Book notices, and Miscellaneous. Every six months an index was compiled of a completed volume. No table of contents was published for the volumes; rather the index was placed at the head of an assembled volume as seen in these links:

• January 1869Volume 1.
• January 1870Volume 2.E. Sherman Gould, "Surveying Instruments", pp 5,6.
• July 1870Volume 3."Railways of the Future"
• January 1871Volume 4."Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute", p 4
• July 1871Volume 5John Ericson "Solar Heat", p 8
• January 1872Volume 6G.F. Grover "Notes on Fire-bricks" p 6
• July 1872Volume 7"Theory of the Steam Engine" pp 17–26
• January 1873Volume 8"Flow of Water in Open Canals"
• July 1873Volume 9"On Compound Engines"
• January 1874Volume 10Arthur Jacobs [Water] "Storage Reservoirs"
• July 1874Volume 11G.H. Mann "Laying out of [Railway] Curves of Small Radius" p 13
• January 1875Volume 12Abram S. Hewitt "The Future of Wages and of Iron"
• July 1875Volume 13George L. Vose "The United States Coast Survey"
• January 1876Volume 14N.B. Putnam "Arcs of Adjustment"
• July 1876Volume 15S.W. Robinson "On a New Odontograph"
• January 1877Volume 16Henry T. Eddy "New Constructions in Graphical Statics" pp 1–6
• July 1877Volume 17H.T. Eddy continued pp 1–19
• January 1878Volume 18A.A. Humphreys & Henry L. Abbot "Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi"
• July 1878Volume 19H.T. Eddy "Theory of Internal Stress"
• January 1879Volume 20Albert B. Leeds "Sanitary Science" pp 6–14
• July 1879Volume 21H.T. Eddy "Thermodynamics" pp 1–9
• January 1880Volume 22M.C. Stevens "Effective Ventilation" pp 13–16
• July 1880Volume 23George W. Blodgett "Production and Transmission of Power by Electricity" pp 24–7
• January 1881Volume 24M. Argand, A.S. Hardy translator "Geometrical Interpretation of Imaginary Quantities" pp 16–22
• July 1881Volume 25Alex B.W. Kennedy "Kinematics of Machinery" pp 1–11
• January 1882Volume 26William Thomson "Recent Improvements in the Compass, Corrections for Iron Ships" pp 1–11
• July 1882Volume 27William Pole "Aerial Navigation" pp 1–15
• January 1883Volume 28George B. Airy & Benjamin Baker "On the Proposed Forth Bridge" pp 40–5
• July 1883Volume 29Charles C. Brown "Calibration of Thermometer" pp 1–7
• January 1884Volume 30DeVolson Wood "Stresses in Beams" pp 1–3
• July 1884Volume 31Wm Booth "Transformed Catenary as a Figure for Arches in Stone or Metal"
• January 1885Volume 32F. Gilman "Solar Temperature Question"
• July 1885Volume 33Wm Kent "Engineering as a Profession" pp 89–93
• January 1886Volume 34W.C. Unwin "Water Motors" [Turbines]
• July 1886Volume 35S.W. Robinson "Measurement of Gas Wells and other Gas Streams" pp 89–102

After the death of David Van Nostrand the assets of theEngineering Magazinewere purchased byMatthias N. Forneywho also acquiredAmerican Railroad Journal.He merged these publications to formThe Railroad and Engineering Journal.That publication, after acquisitions and changes in name, is perpetuated inRailway Agemagazine.

Further reading

• David Van Nostrand obituary(1886)Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine35:78, link fromInternet Archive.
• Edward Mathews Crane (1948),A Century of Book PublishingfromHathiTrust.
• Robert L. Gale,David Van NostrandfromAmerican National Biography.
• David van Nostrand (1811-1886), Industrial/Commercial Leader,New Netherlands Institute.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J.,eds. (1889)."Van Nostrand, David".Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.New York: D. Appleton.