This is a second edition copy of "My Life" by famed inventor Sir Hiram S. Maxim published by Methuen & Co. Ltd. of London. The flyleaf has the personal inscription: "Presented to my old friend Mr. Benj. Orman with the compliments of the Author." and signed "Hiram S. Maxim" followed by the inscription "We worked together for many years on Killing Machines. London, Oct. 1915." The inside of the cover also has Orman's address handwritten. Benjamin Orman was also a firearms designer and is named in patent 526,591 for an "Apparatus for Filling Cartridge Feed-Belts for Machine-Guns assigned to the Maxim-Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company and granted on April 2, 1895. Orman also patented his own self-loading pistol design in 1912. Maxim (1840-1916) was born in Maine and moved to England in 1881 where he became widely known as the inventor of the Maxim machine gun in 1884, the first fully-automatic machine gun. Maxim machine guns and improvements based on his design were used in colonial conquests in the late 19th century and early 20th century and contributed to the massive losses suffered during World War I. In addition to machine guns, Maxim also invented a wide number of devices, including by some accounts the first incandescent light bulbs. His son Hiram Percy Maxim was also an inventor, and among his successes was the first commercially successful firearms suppressors, the Maxim Silencers, in the early 20th century.

Very good with mild age and storage related wear mainly confined to the edges of the cover and some minor staining.