Cycling History

Books on Cycling History and Old Cycling Books of Historical Interest *Indexed by Author • 89 Books • Indicates book available at Palo Alto Bicycles**
	Cycle History: Proceedings of the 4th International Cycle History Conference	144 pp. Papers read at the 1993 conference covering a wide range of topics.
	English Mechanic: The Velocipede-1865-1870	Wheeling, Brandon, UK: GM Design, 1993. Compilation of articles by inventors from the English Mechanic magazine of the 19th century.
	The Velocipede: Its History and Practical Hints How to Use It	London: J. Bruton, 1869. 32 pp. Reprinted 1994 by the National Cycle Archive (UK). Early development of the bicycle and tricycle from the British perspective in the period of velocipedomania.
A'Green, George (pseudonym of Shaw, Reginald Cairne)	This Great Club of Ours: The Story of the Cyclists' Touring Club	London: The Cyclists' Touring Club, 1953.
Alderson, Frederick	Bicycling: A History	New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972. 214 pp. A general history of the machine and the sport from a British perspective.
Bartleet, H.W.	Bartleet's Bicycle Book	No publication information or date (Birmingham, UK: Pinkerton Press, 1983). 171 pp. Reprint of the 1931 edition published by Ed. J. Burrow, London. Details of the Bartleet collection of bicycles and anecdotes of early cycling history.
Beeley, Serena	A History of Bicycles	Secaucus, NJ: Wellfleet Books, 1992. 144 pp. The development of bicycles and cycling. Many period illustrations and photographs.
Berto, Frank J.	The Birth of Dirt: The Origins of Mountain Biking	Van der Plas Publications, 1999, 96 pp. Examines the contending claims for the invention of the mountain bike.
Blum, Geo. W.	The Cyclers' Guide and Road Book of California	1896. Seven sectional relief maps showing all available cycling roads from Chico to San Diego plus a map of Golden Gate Park. 80 pp.
Bottomley, Joseph Firth	The Velocipede: Its Present and Its Future	London: 1869.
Bowden, Gregory Houston	Story of the Raleigh Cycle	London: W.H. Allen, 1975. 216 pp. Written by the great-grandson of Raleigh founder, who researched company archives.
Burgwardt, Carl F.	Buffalo's Bicycles	Pedaling History Bicycle Museum. History of bicycle manufacturing in the city of Buffalo, NY.
Bury, Viscount and Hillier, G. Lacy	Cycling	London: Longmans, Green, 1887.
Caidin, Martin and Barbree, Jay	Bicycles in War	New York: Hawthorne Books, 1974.
Calif, Ruth	The World of Wheels: An Illustrated History of the Bicycle and Its Relatives	New York: Cornwall Books, 1983. 256 pp.
Caunter, C.F.	Cycles: Handbook of the Collection	Science Museum, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1958.
Caunter, C.F.	The History and Development of Cycles. 2 volumes	London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Vol I 1955, Vol II 1958.
Clayton, Nick	Early Bicycles	Lubrecht & Cramer, 1999.
Clifford, Peter A.	History of the Tour of Britain.	London: International Cyclists' Saddle Club, 1967.
Cole, Terrence (ed.)	Wheels on Ice	Anchorage, AK: Alaska Northwest Publishing, 1985. 64 pp. First person accounts of cycling in Alaska during the Klondike gold rush, 1898-1908, with many photos.
Cooper, Lowell B.	The Fresno and San Francisco Bicycle Mail of 1894	Leonard H. Hartman, 1982.
Cripps, Cecil	Racing the Wind	Victoria, Australia: Vetsport Promotions, no date (1991). 192 pp. A history of paced racing and record-breaking. Many photos of paced record holders such as Mile-a-Minute Murphy, Major Taylor, and John Howard.
Crowley, T.E.	Discovering Old Bicycles	Shire Publications, 1978 (first edition 1973).
Crown, Judith and Coleman, Glenn	No Hands: The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, an American Institution	Henry Holt & Company, 1995. 350 pp.
Dodds, Alastair (ed.)	Scottish Bicycles and Tricycles	National Museums of Scotland Publishing, 2000.
Dodge, Pryor	The Bicycle	Paris: Flammarion, 1996. 224 pp. Beautiful images of old bicycles and objects related to the bicycle and cycling.
Du Cross, Arthur	Wheels of Fortune: A Salute to Pioneers	London: Chapman & Hall 1938. 316 pp.
Ducker, Peter	The TI Raleigh Story	Midland Letterpress, 1979.
Duncan, John E.	Bikes and Trikes of Long Ago	Scotia, NY: American Review, 1975. Late 19th century cycling in excerpts from contemporary publications.
Dzierzak, Lou	Schwinn	St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing, 2002. 95 pp. A history of Schwinn bicycles.
Fisk, Fred C. and Todd, Martin W.	The Wright Brothers from Bicycle to Biplane	Dayton, OH: Toddfisk, 1991. 128 pp. The Wright's bike shop, the bikes they built, and the connection between their cycling expertise and aviation.
Fitzpatrick, Jim	The Bicycle and the Bush	New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. 256 pp. Cycling in the Australian outback in the 1890's.
Fitzpatrick, Jim	The Bicycle in Wartime	Dulles, VA, Brassey's: 1998. 240 pp. Extensively illustrated history of the military use of the bicycle.
Fried, Liz	Schwinn Sting-Ray	Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1997. 96 pp.
Galbiati, Fermo and Ciravegna, Nino	La Bicicletta/Bicycle	Milan: Itinerai d'Immagini, 1989. 142 pp. Picture history of the bicycle from an Italian perspective. Published in the US in 1994 by Chronicle Books, San Francisco as Bicycles in English and Italian.
Goddard, J.T.	The Velocipede: Its History, Varieties, and Practice	New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1869.
Goddard, Stephen B.	Colonel Albert Pope and His American Dream Machines: The Life and Times of a Bicycle Tycoon Turned Automotive Pioneer.	McFarland & Company, 2000. A pioneer in bicycle manufacturing and later automobiles, Pope is an important figure in American business as well as in the history of the bicycle.
Griffin, Harry Hewitt	Bicycles & Tricycles of the Year 1889	1985 facsimile reprint of an 1889 bicycle buyer's guide.
Griffin, Harry Hewitt	Cycles and Cycling	New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1890.
Harper, Ted	Six days of Madness	Stroud, Ontario: Pacesetter Press, 1993. 160 pp. North American six-day racing in the 1920's and 1930's.
Harter, Jim	Transportation, A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources	New York: Dover Publications, 1984. 154 pp. Includes 58 copyright-free illustrations of early bicycles.
Hewitt, Chris	A.J. Hodge and His Cycles	Harpenden, UK: Self published, 1991. Story of a British custom frame builder who worked from 1905 into the 1960's.
Humber, William	Freewheeling: The story of Bicycling in Canada	Erin: Boston Mills Press, 1986.
Hurd, James and Gordon, T.A.	T.A. Schwinn-Built Bicycles/Super Balloon Tire Bicycles
Hurd, James and Gordon, T.A.	Bicycle Blue Book	1990. 150 pp.
Hurd, James and Gordon, T.A.	Collectible Elgin, J.C. Higgins and Hawthorne Bicycles.	1990.
Hurd, James and Gordon, T.A.	Muscle Car Era Schwinn Bicycles
Hurd, James and Hennings, Don	Introductory Guide to Collecting the Classics	Ann Arbor, MI: Antique/Classic Bicycle News, 1987. 98 p. Collecting and restoring balloon tire bicycles from the 1930's through '60's.
King, Gilbert	The Bicycle	Running Press, 2002. Photographs of antique bicycles. 128 pp.
Leonard, Irving	When Bikehood Was in Flower	Tucson, AZ: Seven Palms Press, 1983 (also Bearcamp Press, 1969). 151 pp. Vignettes of the experiences of turn-of-the-century cyclists.
Lightwood. J.	Cyclists' touring Club: Being the Romance of Fifty Years' Cycling	1928. 300 pp.
Maher, Thomas	The Whitney. Building a Highwheel Bicycle	Norwood, MA: TMC Publishing, 1991. 91 pp. How a group of machinists/antique bicycle enthusiasts built replicas of the 1884 Victor high wheel bicycle.
McGongle, Seamus	The Bicycle in Life, Love, War, and Literature	London: Pelham Books, 1968.
McGurn, James	On Your Bicycle	New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987. 208 pages. Authoritative history of the machine and sport; engagingly written and filled with wonderful old photographs.
Norcliffe, Glen	Ride to Modernity: The Bicycle in Canada,1869-1900	University of Toronto Press, 2001. The sociology of the bicycle in Canada and its use in relation to the concept of "modernity".
Nye, Peter	Hearts of Lions	New York: W.W. Norton, 1988. 317 pp. A history of American bicycle racing. The 1920's covered in detail.
Oakley, William	Winged Wheel: Godalming Cyclists' Touring Club	1977. 248 pp. History of the club started in 1878.
Oliver, Smith H. and Berkebile, D.H.	Wheels and Wheeling	Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974. 104 pp. Details of the Smithsonian cycle collection with considerable technical information such as numbers of spokes, weights, and wheel sizes of the machines.
Palmer, Arthur Judson	Riding High	New York: E.P. Dutton, 1956. 191 pp. A history of the bicycle from the earliest machines into the first decades of the 20th century. Many illustrations.
Porter, Luther H.	Wheels and Wheeling	Boston: Wheelman, 1892.
Pratt, Charles E.	The American Bicycler: A Manual for the Observer, the Learner, and the Expert	Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1879.
Pridmore, Jay	Classic American Bicycles	Bicycle Museum of America / MBI Publishing Company, 1999.
Pridmore, Jay and Hurd, Jim	Schwinn Bicycles *	St. Paul, MN: MBI Books, 2001.160 pp. A history of Schwinn bicycles in pictures. Large, coffee table format.
Pridmore, Jay and Hurd, Jim	The American Bicycle	Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1995. 192 pp. A coffee table book of the best sort. Delicious color photos of perfectly restored machines from the1860's to the present.
Rennert, Jack	One Hundred Years of Bicycle Posters.	New York: Harper and Row, 1973. Bicycle product and event posters from 1868 to 1972.
Reynolds, R.A.	The Second Fifty Years of the Catford Cycling Club	Sussex, UK: Catford Cycling Club, 1989. 400 pp.
Ritchie, Andrew	King of the Road, An Illustrated History of Cycling	London: Wildwood House, 1975 (also Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1975). 192 pp. A history in pictures and text of the origin of the bicycle and its early development. Rare photos.
Roberts, Derek	Cycling History-Myths and Queries	London: John Pinkerton, 1991. 99 pp. An examination of claims for invention of the bicycle and for its early development.
Roberts, Derek	The Invention of Bicycles and Motorcycles	London: Usborne Publishers, Ltd., 1975.
Roberts, Derek (ed.)	The Years of the High Bicycle	UK: John Pinkerton, 1980. A compilation of catalogs from the years 1877-1886, including tricycles, parts, and accessories.
Rochlin, Jay and Gail	The Art of the Wheelman	Tucson, AZ: Seven Palms Press, 1982.
Rosen, Paul	Framing Production: Technology, Culture, and Change in the British Bicycle Industry	MIT Press, 2002. How the British bicycle industry reacted to technological, sociological, and cultural changes from its founding in the 1870s to the present.
Schwinn, Frank	50 Years of Schwinn-Built Bicycles	Chicago: Schwinn Bicycle Co., 1945 (reprinted 1989) 93 pp. Evolution of the company and the bicycle, 1895-1945.
Scott, Robert P.	Cycling Art, Energy, and Locomotion: A Series of Remarks on the Development of Bicycles, Tricycles and Man-Motor Carriages	Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1889. 305 pp.
Seray, Jacques	1904: The Tour Which Was to be the Last	160 pp. Story of the first Tour de France.
Sharp, Archibald	Bicycles and Tricycles	Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1979 (reprint of original published in 1896). 536 pp. A century after it was written Sharp's book remains the most important text on bicycle mechanical engineering and early history.
Siple, Greg and June (eds.)	The Mighty TOSRV	History of the Tour of the Scioto River Valley.
Smith, Robert A.	A Social History of the Bicycle	American Heritage Press, 1972. 269 pp. Engaging and revealing story of the bicycle in America. A classic of bicycle literature.
Street, Roger	The Pedestrian Hobby-Horse	Christchurch, Dorset, UK: Artesius Publications, 1998. 195 pp. Fascinating account of the first phase of bicycle development. Color illustrations.
Sturmey, Henry	Indispensable Bicyclist's Handbook	Weymouth, England: H.A. Judd, 1879.
Sturmey, Henry	Tricyclist's Indispensable Annual	London: Iliffe & Sons, 1884.
Sudbury, Ronald	The Bicycle and the Postage Stamp	Batley, West Yorkshire, UK: Harry Angus, 1976.
Sumner, P.	Early Bicycles	London: Hugh Evelyn, 1966 (reprinted 1980). Unpaged. Elegant silhouettes of 12 bicycle types from 1791 to 1907, plus a brief historical introduction and notes on the machines.
Velox (pseudonym)	Velocipedes, Bicycles and Tricycles. How to Make and How to Use Them (Facsimile of original 1869 edition)	East Ardley, UK: S.R. Publishers, 1971.
Ward, Maria E.	Bicycling for Ladies	Dress, care of the bicycle, mechanics, training. New York: Brentano's, 1896. 200 pp.
Way, R John	The Bicycle	Hamlyn, 1974. Hamlyn. 96 pp.
Wood, Neil S. (ed.)	Evolution of the Bicycle	Gas City, IN: L-W Books, 1991. 204 pp. A hodgepodge of old bicycle ads, posters, postcards, and photographs. Includes snapshots of collectable bicycles taken by their owners with value estimates.
Wood, Neil S. (ed.)	Evolution of the Bicycle, Volume II	Gas City, IN: L-W Books, 1996. 238 pp.
Woodforde, John	The Story of the Bicycle	London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980 (first edition 1977). 144 pp. Development of the bicycle and a social history of cycling. Many period illustrations of early bicycles and cyclists.