Audels Engineers and Mechanics Guide 1 begins Frank D. Graham’s eight-volume reference series covering modern engineering practice. First published in 1921, the collection was prepared for engineers, mechanics, electricians, students, and industrial workers.

Volume 1 introduces the fundamental principles of steam engines, valve setting, and pumps. Its question-and-answer lessons explain how steam pressure creates mechanical motion, how valves control the admission and exhaust of steam, and how pumps move water and other fluids.

The detailed illustration beside the title page shows a parallel slide-valve cylinder in cross-section. Labeled components—including the piston, steam passages, valve, cylinder head, and stuffing box—helped readers visualize the movement of steam through an operating engine.

As the opening volume of the series, this book provided the foundation needed to understand the more specialized machinery covered in later volumes. It is preserved as part of the museum’s complete eight-volume Audels collection.