Le Vélocipède Illustré
The edition of Le Vélocipède illustré from 26 June 1870.
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| Type | Fortnightly cycling journal |
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| Editor | Richard Lesclide (1869-1872) |
| Founded | 1869-1872 |
| Website | www.Antediluvian.fr |
Le Vélocipède Illustré (Bicycle Illustrated) was a fortnightly (twice monthly) illustrated French newspaper which covered cycling, water sports, mechanical arts and sciences, fine arts, and industry. First published in Paris on the 1st April 1869 by Richard Lesclide, it continued publication until 1872.
As part of its promotional marketing Le Vélocipède Illustré co-organised the world's first 'city to city' road-race for bicycles, from Paris to Rouen on November 7, 1869.
Le Vélocipède Illustré was published on 1 April 1869 by Richard Lesclide, alias Le Grand Jacques, a pioneer of sports journalism. Lesclide eventually became the secretary of Victor Hugo.
Lesclide was described by Edward Seidler in his book The Media and Sport (Presse et Sport) as:
A bicycle boom occurred in France during the 1860s. In October 1868 Le Vélocipède was published in Foix, Ariège, although the title was misleading as it was not related to velocipedes, but an excuse to obtain an Imperial publication license. On March 1, 1869 another independent newspaper called Le Vélocipède was published in Voiron, near Grenoble. It promoted itself as the "Humorous journal and gazette of sportsmen and cyclists (vélocemen)." The publisher was monsieur A Favre, a manufacturer of bicycles and tricycles. This version only survived for 3 months.
On 1 April 1869, the first edition of Le Vélocipède Illustré appeared at the peak of the bicycle boom. The masthead featured an image of the voluptuous Lady Progress astride a boneshaker, and the main banner stated its coverage as :
Subsequent editions featured a range of images of Lady Progress surrounded by contemporary cycling fantasy scenes, such as the montage (illustrated) of ballooning, walking, travel, outdoor life and freedom.
In the manifesto of the first edition, Richard Lesclide, the editor, stated:
The novelty of the new publication about cycling attracted the attention of the New York Times, which carried a report from the 'Velocipede correspondent of the London Star' :
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