VERY GOOD ORIGINAL 1925 PRINTING OF AUDELS AUTOMOBILE GUIDE

Description

This 1925 printing of “Audels Automobile Guide With Questions, Answers and Illustrations,” with copyright date of 1915, is in very good condition. None of its more than 540 pages is missing or torn. Its imitation-leather cover also has no rips, and the gold-colored lettering on its spine is bold and legible. The page before the title page is slightly separated from the spine, but it is not loose and doesn’t affect the integrity of the binding. The pencil markings on the copyright page and the inside front cover and its facing blank page presumably were made back in the day. Measuring about 6 ½ inches by 4 ¾ inches, this is a remarkably comprehensive, highly illustrated manual for owners, operators and repairmen of early automobiles. In 28 chapters and an additional 48-page appendix, it covers everything about early motoring, from how to crank-start and drive a motor car to overhauling the engine and storing a car for the winter. It even has a chapter on electric cars and hybrids (yes, there were cars a century ago that used a combination of gas and electric motors). The photos of engines and other components often show details of specific makes -- such as Knox, Lozier, Overland, Peerless, Ford, and air-cooled Franklin and Cameron – rather than simply using generic line art. There also is a chapter on motorcycles. The appendix offers info on starting and electrical systems. When this book was copyrighted, the majority of Americans still were using horses for mobility. The question-and-answer format of the text is written mostly in lay language, which must have been welcome to people who were transitioning from the horse to the automobile. Free shipping only to U.S. Lower 48.