Wheel Songs
Wheel songs : poems of bicycling
The beautiful embossed cover of this 1884 book hints at the delights found inside this paean to the big wheel bicycles of the late 19th century. The author S. Conant Foster was an avid cyclist himself, and his collection includes poems both humorous and somber. One is an ode to a fellow member of a Boston cycling club who died in 1880. But most are lighthearted celebrations of bicycling, and many feature lovely illustrations, including one by renowned American artist Childe Hassam. A contemporary reviewer described this volume as “the most sumptuous volume devoted wholly to the wheel that has as yet been published.”
This book features a late 19th century publisher's binding with beveled boards covered in a light blue bookcloth. The front cover is stamped with an elaborate image of a cherub riding a bicycle. The corners and spine are worn. The front board is attached only by the spine lining as the cords have broken at the gutter. The first section is detached. Conservators will remove the textblock from the case and clean and re-line the spine. Repairs will be made to the case including reinforcing the spine and repairing the corners. The front section will be re-attached and the endpapers retained, if possible. The textblock will then be placed back into the repaired cover.
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Adoption Type: Preserve for the Future
