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Calab Rare Books

BICYCLES

BICYCLES

Regular price $2,500.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $2,500.00 USD
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Acatène Métropole.  36 pp.  Illustrated throughout with black and orange wood-engraved decorative borders, initials, depictions of castles, knights and ladies, armorial crests, helms, and weapons, plus 30 silhouettes (white on orange) of bicycles and bicycle parts.  Small folio, 291 x 205 mm, bound in publisher's decorative wrappers printed in gold, black, white and blue.  Uncut.  Paris: [Devambez], 1897.

First Edition.  A most unusual and rare French bicycle trade catalogue from the 1890s.  The bicycles advertised are the Acatène brand from the manufacturer Métropole, distinguished by an innovative drive shaft which did not include a chain (the name comes from the Latin: catena or chain).  The complex machining required to make the drive shaft, plus the lack of a gear shift assured that the design found little commercial success, however it is preserved in this catalogue in detailed illustrations of the mechanism. 

The catalogue was published by the esteemed printer Devambez of Paris, which would account for its elaborate, private press like design.  Before becoming an innovator in advertising design, Devambez specialized in heraldic engraving for important French families.  This influence is clearly seen in the present catologue, as images of bicycles and parts exist within a world populated with knights and ladies, heraldic devices, with bicycles often appearing on standards.  Shown also are a unicycle and bicycles built for 2, 3, and 4! Letterpress descriptions extol the virtues of each model.

Very rare with no copies located on World Cat.   Pages lightly evenly toned, lower right corner with a small bump throughout the pages causing a very small tear in a few places, however, not affecting the image or text.  Overall a very good copy. 

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