[Illustration]
THE
VELOCIPEDE;
ITS
HISTORY, VARIETIES, AND PRACTICE
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON.
Cambridge: Riverside Press.
1869.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
J. T. Goddard,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for
the District of Massachusetts.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.
PREFACE
When the rumor first came across the water, a few years ago, of that
wonderful and fascinating little two-wheeled machine, upon which one
could so gracefully annihilate time and space, the author of this
little book was seized with his first attack of Velocipede Fever.
When, in the spring of 1868, we heard how popular this invention was
becoming in France, how much it was ridden in Paris; in its Boulevards,
its Bois de Boulogne, and on the smooth paths of the Champs Elysées;
how it was employed for amusement in the Garden of the Tuileries, and
by the laborer in the suburbs going to his daily toil; how exhilarating
to the gentleman, how useful to the messenger and post-boy, we were
again seized with the disease with renewed virulence.
We could hardly delay for one from across the Atlantic, and embraced
the first opportunity to learn the art of riding. While learning, with
bruised elbows and scraped knees, with the bicycle more of the time on
us than we on it, we felt how usefully we could employ a few hints of
instruction, and how invaluable we should find some little book that
would tell us all about the machine.
After we were somewhat proficient, we were amazed that we had not
learned before, and saw how easily we could have done so, if we had
only been a little informed of the method of procedure.
When we proposed purchasing, we were all adrift, as likely to buy a
poor machine as a good one, and anxiously scanned the papers, and
inquired of friends concerning the merits and demerits of each patent
and make.
So far as we can learn, there has been no book written upon the
Velocipede, either abroad or in this country.
It is the design of this little work, not only to give a few simple
directions to guide the beginner, but to give the history of the
machine from its first origin, to treat accurately and impartially of
the strength, lightness, superiority, and inferiority of each important
machine and patent, and to collect such facts, statistics, and items,
as may be of use and information to any one interested in the subject.
We think it an invention which will not have an ephemeral popularity,
but which will, in its way, revolutionize travel for all time. We love
the velocipede, and can truly quote, “Amor jussit scribere.”
We wish to thank the various manufacturers for their kindness in
giving us information, and to acknowledge our indebtedness to various
newspapers that have fallen in our way, to the “Scientific American,”
to the “Galaxy,” and to the “Velocipedist,” and its genial and
accomplished young editor.
Cambridge, _March 20, 1869_.