The iron forge on board the 'Great Eastern', 1866.

Lithograph after Robert Dudley from 'The Atlantic Telegraph', a book by W H Rusell with 26 illustrations by Dudley, published in 1866. A scene on the deck of Brunel's 'Great Eastern' ship on the night of 9 August 1866, during the succesful third attempt to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable. This established the first permanent telegraph cable acros the Atlantic, reducing communication times from the length of a sea voyage to a few seconds.