The Dandy and his Postillion–or the Waay to laugh up Hill
Attributed to William Heath ('Paul Pry') British
Publisher Thomas Tegg British
Not on view
A dandy astride a velocipede is pulled uphill by a large dog urged on by a monkey-groom. A less fortunate rider carries his vehicle on his shoulder and mops his brow. Heath devoted a series of satires to velocipedes--foot-propelled bikes popularly known as hobbies--in response to a craze that swept fashionable London in 1819. That year Denis Johnson promoted a British model that he based on an 1817 design developed in Baden by Baron Karl von Drais (called a Laufmachine (running machine) or Draisine). The craze soon subsided as accidents mounted, and high fines were issued to those who rode on sidewalks.
