With over 200 illustrations this book earns its full title - Wheels: A Pictorial History. Written in 1955 and published by The John Hopkins University Press this book was designed to address the fact that there was 'no consistent and accurate account of horse-drawn vehicles published in the United States since 1878.' From the very early solid wheel to the 'modern' cars its all in this book.
Designed for the general reader I can't say enough good things about this book. The pictures are amazing. The author does remind the reader however that human error does happen and that nothing in the book is irrefutable. In many cases the dates are rough because the creation of a new cart or wagon didn't always warrant record keeping or the records were destroyed over the years. Likewise, some of the information is based on legend. In some cases written description of a vehicle differs from woodcuts of the same vehicle - which do you believe?
Have you ever heard the story of the Jenny Lind carriage? She was a very popular singer, in fact she was one of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century. Long story short her name was used to sell a carriage without her permission. While the book does not include a picture of the vehicle named after her it does include a picture of a Spanish volante that she owned. The volante is solely a ladies vehicle - a lady couldn't get dirty, sit near a man or drive a horse. Thus the carriage allows the lady to sit alone with her hands in her lap while the driver rode the horse. The shafts were very long and the wheels were large and placed at the rear of the vehicle, allowing plenty of clearance for skirts.
Image by W. M. BERGER.(not the same image in Wheels.)
I highly recommend perusing or buying this book. Select pages are available through Google books and used copies can be bought online.
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