1903-05 car journeys recorded in a custom album
Res 80 est 150-250
The 12th car in Devon, UK - 1903-5 motoring record
SEALE Family, Devonshire (early motorists). – HOUGHTON & GUNN (publishers). A small scale album, with letterpress title ‘Motor Record’ and multiple manuscript entries. London: published by Houghton & Gunn, [undated, but entries from ‘Xmas 1903’- Oct. 15, 1905]. Oblong 12mo (4 3/8 x 7 in; 111 x 178mm). Letterpress title-page, 98 pages (49 double-page openings printed in red and black), with manuscript entries (in a single hand) to all 49 double-page openings, extra-illustrated with one small ‘snap-shot’ photograph of a motorcar being ‘hauled’ home by a horse. Red morocco gilt by Houghton & Gunn, lettered ‘Motor Rides’ on upper cover, marbled endpapers, gilt edges (some damage [see images]). Provenance: Seale family (inscribed ‘For Dad with May’s love / and best wishes. / Xmas. 1903.’
A record of just under two years worth of motoring, much of it in and around south Devon, England: the mileage suggests that the Seale family were enthusiastic motorists. The entries suggest that the compiler drove himself (on occasion) but also employed a chauffeur called ‘Badger’. Overall, the album recalls a short-lived pioneering era when ‘motoring’ was a sporting adventure, and journeys undertaken by motor car deserved to be recorded in much the same way that a day’s hunting, shooting or fishing were. The vehicle in the ‘snap-shot’ is presumably the Seale family vehicle: it’s ‘number-plate’ ‘T12’ supports this theory. Number-plates were not introduced to the UK until 1903, and the ‘T’ suffix was applied to vehicles registered in Devonshire. So, the vehicle in the photograph was the 12th vehicle to be registered in the county.
Each double-page opening of the ‘Motor Rides’ album has a number of printed headings: ‘Date’, ‘Ride to’, ‘Time of start’, ‘Time of return’, ‘No. of hours riding’, ‘No. of miles’, and ‘Remarks’. The entries start with two entries for 1903 recording a milage total for the year of 5538 (4029 + 1509). The total for 1904 was (probably) 6964 miles, with a total ‘No. of hours riding’ at 4000. The total milage for 1905 was 7067. The publishers describe themselves as ‘Heraldic Stationers, Die Sinkers, Engravers, Bookbinders, Printers, &c., &c. …. Manufacturers of Writing Cabinets, Dressing Bags, Despatch Boxes, and High-Class Leather Goods.’
View it on
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
Res 80 est 150-250
The 12th car in Devon, UK - 1903-5 motoring record
SEALE Family, Devonshire (early motorists). – HOUGHTON & GUNN (publishers). A small scale album, with letterpress title ‘Motor Record’ and multiple manuscript entries. London: published by Houghton & Gunn, [undated, but entries from ‘Xmas 1903’- Oct. 15, 1905]. Oblong 12mo (4 3/8 x 7 in; 111 x 178mm). Letterpress title-page, 98 pages (49 double-page openings printed in red and black), with manuscript entries (in a single hand) to all 49 double-page openings, extra-illustrated with one small ‘snap-shot’ photograph of a motorcar being ‘hauled’ home by a horse. Red morocco gilt by Houghton & Gunn, lettered ‘Motor Rides’ on upper cover, marbled endpapers, gilt edges (some damage [see images]). Provenance: Seale family (inscribed ‘For Dad with May’s love / and best wishes. / Xmas. 1903.’
A record of just under two years worth of motoring, much of it in and around south Devon, England: the mileage suggests that the Seale family were enthusiastic motorists. The entries suggest that the compiler drove himself (on occasion) but also employed a chauffeur called ‘Badger’. Overall, the album recalls a short-lived pioneering era when ‘motoring’ was a sporting adventure, and journeys undertaken by motor car deserved to be recorded in much the same way that a day’s hunting, shooting or fishing were. The vehicle in the ‘snap-shot’ is presumably the Seale family vehicle: it’s ‘number-plate’ ‘T12’ supports this theory. Number-plates were not introduced to the UK until 1903, and the ‘T’ suffix was applied to vehicles registered in Devonshire. So, the vehicle in the photograph was the 12th vehicle to be registered in the county.
Each double-page opening of the ‘Motor Rides’ album has a number of printed headings: ‘Date’, ‘Ride to’, ‘Time of start’, ‘Time of return’, ‘No. of hours riding’, ‘No. of miles’, and ‘Remarks’. The entries start with two entries for 1903 recording a milage total for the year of 5538 (4029 + 1509). The total for 1904 was (probably) 6964 miles, with a total ‘No. of hours riding’ at 4000. The total milage for 1905 was 7067. The publishers describe themselves as ‘Heraldic Stationers, Die Sinkers, Engravers, Bookbinders, Printers, &c., &c. …. Manufacturers of Writing Cabinets, Dressing Bags, Despatch Boxes, and High-Class Leather Goods.’
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
