Cycling / Desgrange - Lot 60

Cycling / Desgrange DESGRANGE (Henri), Alphonse Marcaux, Paris, Imp. L. Pochy, 2nd edition, 1899, 18 x 12.5 cm Green cloth binding, front cover preserved. This novel, written by the future “father” of the Tour de France, is the most thoroughly researched work on cycling competition during the Belle Époque. Following his first book, *La tête et les jambes* (published in 1895), Desgrange offers a report that plunges us into the dazzling and turbulent world of velodromes at the height of their golden age. A world the author knew firsthand, as both a champion and a columnist, publicist, and journalist. It’s captivating and unsettling. Writing—and conveying a truth—was very much in vogue at the time; Coubertin also published his novel in 1898: *Le Roman d’un rallié*. Coubertin had already revitalized the Olympic Games, and Desgrange was about to launch the Tour de France. It was a time when officials timed events by their own pulse, and the heart would go “toc-toc,” as the great Desgrange liked to say. A rare book.

Estimation:€180

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