Are you searching for images of the earliest steam engines? Perhaps your project is just missing that vital illustration of a gas-powered omnibus or a rare construction photograph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Eastern? If this is the case, then we can help with imagery sourced from the fantastic library archive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), which celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2022.

The collection encompasses over 2500 images covering manufacturing, motoring, institution records, personal papers of prominent and pioneering engineers (including IMechE founder George Stephenson), paintings, mechanical models and technical plans. Other images depict the construction of some of the world's most famous landmarks, pioneers in aviation, maps of the American railroads, an X-ray of an early hip replacement and a portrait of an elderly Edward Entwhistle, Stephenson's fireman on the 'Rocket'.

Founded in Birmingham in 1847, the original statement of purpose of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was, 'To give an impulse to invention likely to be useful to the world' - not so different from their present statement, 'improving the world through engineering.' We are certain the imagery of technological innovations available through the IMechE archive will continue to be extremely 'useful to the world' and 'improve' any project!

Click here for a selection of images from this unique resource and if you have any queries about Mary Evans or would like help with research or a quote, please do call us on 020 8318 0034 or email pictures@maryevans.com. Don't forget that the broad spectrum of collections we represent in addition to our own archive can be explored via our dedicated Collections page here.