Wheels: Bicycles, Sleighs and Chariots in Nineteenth-century Children’s Books

Les Enfans Parisiens. Paris: Chez Aubert & Cie. [ca. 1850]. (Cotsen 22849)

An elegant, low-slung coach drawn by a matched pair of stylish young gentlemen for an afternoon ride through the park?  This enormous plate (24 x 29 cm.) comes from Les enfans parisiens: Jeux, exercice et amusements (Paris: Aubert & cie, ca. 1850].

Lustige gesellschaft. München: Braun & Schneider, 1867. (Cotsen 34396)

If you have to have fresh air no matter what the weather, this is the sleigh for you.  Graf Franz von Pocci designed this sleek, minimal vehicle for an illustration to a poem in his Lustige gesellschaft: Bilderbuch von Fr. Pocci (Munich: Braun & Schneider, 1867).

Het nieuwe apenspel. Amsterdam: G. Theod. Bom, [1862]. (Cotsen 52644)

Something with more power?  These simian charioteers were dreamed up by Jacobus Wilhelmus Adrianus Hilverdink for Jan Schnkman’s Het nieuwe apenspel (Amsterdam: G. Theodore Bom, 1862).

Little Hearts. London, Manchester and New York: George Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1897. (Cotsen 15288)

There’s always the reliable old bicycle.  It’s not fast or flashy, but it can take you where you want to go.  Florence Upton drew this image of a little girl polishing up her big brother’s bike for her mother’s Little Hearts (London, Manchester, New York: George Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1897), several years before she scored an enormous hit with the Golliwog series.

All these pictures of vehicles were chosen to illustrate the theme of transportation in the nineteenth-century volumes of the Cotsen catalogue.

“On the Road:” A New Cotsen Gallery Publication on its Way!

On Valentine’s Day, copies of our new pamphlet, “On the Road in the Cotsen Children’s Library” will be available free of charge to all gallery visitors.

What’s it about?

It’s about the sound of keys jingling in your pocket, putting the pedal to the metal, and moving forward.  It’s a tribute to the wheel and to illustrators who captured the joy of being on the open road and going places.  To whet your appetite, here are some of the pictures from the crazy mixed-up files of the compiler that didn’t make the final cut…

Oldřich Bárta. Kdo to umi? Illustrated by Jan Brukner. (Brno: NakladatelstviÌ Rovnost, 1949).

Oldřich Bárta. Kdo to umi? Illustrated by Jan Brukner. (Brno: NakladatelstviÌ Rovnost, 1949). Cotsen 17769

Mary Liddell. Little Machinery. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Page & Co., c1926).

Mary Liddell. Little Machinery. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Page & Co., c1926). Cotsen 21251

Edwin Redslob. Der Spielzeugschrank. Illustrated by Emmy Zweybruck. (Leipzig, Berlin: Verlag Otto Beyer, [1934]).

Edwin Redslob. Der Spielzeugschrank. Illustrated by Emmy Zweybruck. (Leipzig, Berlin: Verlag Otto Beyer, [1934]). Cotsen 3765

Herman Lee Meader. Motor Goose Rhymes. Illustrated by Pal. (New York: The Grafton Press Publishers, c1905).

Herman Lee Meader. Motor Goose Rhymes. Illustrated by Pal. (New York: The Grafton Press Publishers, c1905). Cotsen 10495

POOP, POOP!

More cars here!