The author was led to undertake the present work on Turning and Mechanical Manipulation, from the circumstance of there being no general treatise in the English language for the guidance of the Amateur in these pursuits. The original works by Plumier and Bergeron, although they were suited to the periods at which they were produced, are neither of them sufficient to convey instruction adequate to the present state of the Art; and the more recent French works leave unnoticed a large portion of the machines and instruments now used by Amateurs.<br><br>The greatest difficulty the author has encountered in his task, has been that of selection and arrangement; so as to produce, from materials so numerous and dissimilar, a work of general reference and practical instruction, at once sufficiently copious and accessible.