An Early Cycling Guide

"Rand, McNally & Co.'s Road Maps and Cycling Guide to Westchester County New York with Six Original Large-Scale Route Maps", Rand McNally & Co.

This scarce guide with 6 maps is designed for the cyclist. The use of bicycles became a mainstream mode of transportation in the late 19th century with the invention of the safety bicycle in the 1880s. The 40 pages of text is augmented by six folding maps showing the available roads and road types (dirt, paved, macadamized) in accordion style, allowing the cyclist to flip through without unfolding the maps. Within the text are numerous related advertisements including: Hartford Single-Tube Tires; Columbia Bicycles; Pierce (The Genteel Mount); hotels and road houses, companies specializing in sales and repair, and more. Octavo, pictorial paper wrappers. A scare item with only one auction result in the last 30 years and two institutional examples located on OCLC.

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Condition: B+

The folding maps are clean, bright, and near fine. Text is very good with pleasant light toning. Paper wrappers are present but detached. There are old library stamps on the front wrapper, title page (with additional withdrawn stamp), and a text page.