Book Introduction:
“ This year
marks the one hundredth anniversary of two machines that color lithography,
which made colorful, pictorial posters possible, came into popular use; it was
also about 1872 that the modern bicycle evolved, it is the coincidence of these
two inventions – the modern bicycle and the modern poster – converging and
maturing at about the same time, that interested me. It is this founding and
parallel growth, as evidenced by the bicycle posters, that this book
illustrates.”
Jack Rennert
Published on the centenary of both
off-set lithography and the bicycle, this collection celebrates a unique moment
in the evolution of modern culture. Bicycles were the fastest individual means
of transport from their inception until the arrival of the motor car. And inexpensive
colour printing helped to create unprecedented mass markets for consumer
products – such as bicycles.
Both were helped along by an
artistic blossoming, the products of which – posters – appeared in streets and
in shops across the developed world. Bicycles provided newfound access to the
wider world: printing brought a galaxy of vivid imagery to public spaces. The
internet has revolutionized access to information and experience. Yet that
change looks positively restrained compared to the rush of new experience that
technological innovation provided in the last half of the nineteenth century. Book not included with the listing (for information purposes only)