Velo

1910 · rif. 63113 — London & Norwich UK: Coleman & Co. Ltd. John Bartholomew & Co. Fletcher & Son Ltd. Litho ca. 1910. Sixteen parts. 64 pp unpaginated. double-page colour-lithograph maps throughout sized 9.5 x 7.2 when unfolded. Self-printed colour lithograph softcovers decorated title cover on front of each installment Wincarnis tonic advertisement in full colour on back cover edgewear thumbing minor chipping to a few fore-edges & corners still a G set. First edition thus of this uncommon and complete set of promotional maps for automobile travelers and bicyclists in Edwardian England whose drivers and riders were often fueled by the “delicious tonic and restorative recommended by over 8000 medical men.” The 16 maps featuring sections from London to Cornwall South Wales to Manchester and Lincolnshire to Yorkshire offered an accurate and compact set of travel maps documenting main roads secondary roads “other roads typically nearly impassable local lanes & livestock paths railways and rivers. Wincarnis was first introduced as a medicinal treatment in the Victorian era was a liqueur derived from a mix of secret herbs & spices meat extract malt extract infused with cloves nutmeg and citrus and although not openly marketed as alcoholic featured a significant 17-18% alcohol content. Therapeutic use was widely encouraged and severe motoring and bicycle accidents often included drivers and riders under the influence. Following the 1914 Parliamentary “Commission on Patent Medicines” investigation numerous changes and rules were changed regarding marketing and sales of such products as well as curtailing of hyping the “Restorative” properties. Worldcat locates 2 sets 1 undated - Hartley Library; 1 set misdated -- Wellcome; See: Drinking for Health: Proprietary Tonic Wines Chapter 10 Drinking in Victorian and Edwardian Britain: Beyond the Spectre of the Drunkard National Library of Medicine 2018. Coleman & Co., Ltd., John Bartholomew & Co., Fletcher & Son, Ltd. Litho, paperback