A selection of stock we have recently added to our website.
A selection of stock we have recently added to our website.
A selection of stock we have recently added to our website.
VAT included (see terms) | Exclude VAT
Pedestrian Hobbyhorse. Mr. Johnson, Patentee, 75, Long Acre. [&] A Pilentum, Or Lady's Accelerator invented by Hancock & C.º S.t James's Street. is now exhibiting at 97. Pall Mall.
Published at R. Ackermann's, N.º 101 Strand, Feb.y 1819 [but later]. [&] Pub by S. & J. Fuller, 34, Rathbone Place.
Two aquatints with very fine colour. 150 x 245mm (6 x 9¾") & sheet 205 x 235mm, both with letterpress underneath. 'Pilentum' slightly stained at bottom, trimmed into plate on three sides, laid on album paper together.
Two plates: the first showing a man astride a two-wheeled 'velocopede'; the second a woman riding a tricycle through parkland. Denis Johnson (c.1760-1833), a coach builder, copied the design of Baron von Drais's 'Draissienne', calling it a 'pedestrian curricle' or 'velocipede'. Unfortunately the public preferred 'hobbyhorse', after the children's toy or, worse still, 'dandyhorse', after the foppish men who often rode them. According to the letterpress description of the Pilentum: ''This elegant little vehicle is peculiarly adapted for the use of Ladies, as well as Gentlemen. It is impelled by the slightest touch of either the hands or feet, at a rate truly astonishing; and is so completely secured from upsetting, that the most timid person might use it with the greatest confidence''. The matching letterpress suggest that both prints were published in the same, slightly later, publication.
[Ref: 69090] £1,200.00
Published at R. Ackermann's, N.º 101 Strand, Feb.y 1819 [but later]. [&] Pub by S. & J. Fuller, 34, Rathbone Place.
Two aquatints with very fine colour. 150 x 245mm (6 x 9¾") & sheet 205 x 235mm, both with letterpress underneath. 'Pilentum' slightly stained at bottom, trimmed into plate on three sides, laid on album paper together.
Two plates: the first showing a man astride a two-wheeled 'velocopede'; the second a woman riding a tricycle through parkland. Denis Johnson (c.1760-1833), a coach builder, copied the design of Baron von Drais's 'Draissienne', calling it a 'pedestrian curricle' or 'velocipede'. Unfortunately the public preferred 'hobbyhorse', after the children's toy or, worse still, 'dandyhorse', after the foppish men who often rode them. According to the letterpress description of the Pilentum: ''This elegant little vehicle is peculiarly adapted for the use of Ladies, as well as Gentlemen. It is impelled by the slightest touch of either the hands or feet, at a rate truly astonishing; and is so completely secured from upsetting, that the most timid person might use it with the greatest confidence''. The matching letterpress suggest that both prints were published in the same, slightly later, publication.
[Ref: 69090] £1,200.00