2-691-466 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Crompton's Wonderful Spinning Mule', c1934. Illustration showing the spinning mule, invented between 1775 and 1779 by Samuel Crompton to spin cotton and other fibres. The accompanying text explains the mechanism, and claims that 'Crompton combined the advantages of James Hargreaves's spinning jenny with improvements made by Richard Arkwright'. The mule was the most common spinning machine from 1790 until about 1900 and was still used for fine yarns until the early 1980s. From The Romance of the Nation, Volume Two, edited by Charles Ray. [The Amalgamated Press, Ltd., London, c1934]