Chapter IV of Samuel Smiles's 'Men of Invention and Industry' (pp. 107-120) tells how John Lombe brought Italian silk-throwing (organzine) machinery to England. It opens with a general account of industry and the history of silk from China to Europe and England, then covers Lombe's origins in Norwich, his work at Derby, his trip to Piedmont, the patent of 1718 and the Derby silk mill. It ends with his death, the failure to renew the patent, and the 14,000l. Parliamentary reward to his brother Sir Thomas Lombe. Footnotes cite Hutton's History of Derby and parliamentary papers.