|
|
 |
Early Bicycles, Philip Sumner ill. Alan Osbahr (1966)
Hugh Evelyn 45 UK shillings
An enormously attractive large format book of detailed plates
showing a dozen early bicycles, accompanied by a good, short history
of cycles up to the early years of the twentieth century
|
This was possibly published for educational use. Indeed, the images
from the book are still serving just that purpose in this rather good
classroom aid. Osbahr's draftsmanship is exceptional. He achieves a extraordinary
level of detail - so much so, that it would almost be possible to rebuild
one of these machines from blueprints.
Sumner's potted history is also very strong. He avoids the obviously
potholes that lie between Dumfriesshire, Coventry and Paris, as well as
providing some fantastic specks of detail. The Golden Sunbeam of 1907
retailed for £20 - but could cost as much as £30 with extras.
Baylis-Thomas' Ordinary of 1879 weighed in at 49lbs, while the frame of
a Dursley-Pedersen weighed just 14lbs.
Copies of the book a few and far between - although it appears to have
been in print in to the mid 1980s. If you come across one, however, its
worth snapping it up.
PS Dec 09
|
Bookmark this on Delicious
Follow the site!
Join our list we will let you known when new reviews
are added to the site. We will never share your email address with
third parties.
tim@timdawsn.demon.co.uk
You can also follow us on Facebook
|
Visit our sister site
for dispassionate, expert advice on general cycling
issues
|
How this site is organised
As reviews are added, they are featured on the
front page. All titles are listed in the master index and cross-referenced
in the other indicies.
The subject line contains the title, author and
date of each book's publication. As a general rule, we list the
date of the actual edition that we read, unless there is an obvious
reason to use the original date (say where we read a reprint).
The first line of the main text contains the name
of the publisher, the ISBN
number, where it exists, an indication of the book's
size and the number of printed pages that it contains. Finally,
where it is clear, I list the published price of the work in the
currency that is most prominently displayed.
We summarise the book in a single sentence or two
in the next line. The rest of the review is then intended as a self-contained
piece.
|
|
