René Herse Books are Here!

While I was in Paris and presented the first copy of the René Herse book to Lyli Herse, the container with the bulk of the books continued its voyage to Seattle. We finally received the shipment last Monday!

We immediately started packing and mailing books to readers who pre-ordered the book. You should receive your copy soon. We look forward to hearing how you like the book.

Mailing a 424-page book that weighs over 6 pounds is not a simple task. The weight of the book alone can cause badly bumped corners if the book slides around inside its box. We tested numerous packaging solutions (above), but none really worked. So we designed foam corners to protect the book and had them custom-made from recycled foam. The corners fit inside the box and prevent the book from moving around. They absorb the impact if the box falls onto a hard surface, and they make sure that a bumped corner of the box does not result in a damaged book. After all the work we put into this book, it would be a shame if it got damaged in shipping!
To give you a taste of the book, here are three of the bikes that are featured in the book. The photo at the top of the post is a never-ridden, completely original 1945 mixte, made just after the end of World War II. There are very few survivors from this early period in Herse’s work, and were were incredibly lucky to find one that remains exactly as it left Herse’s shop.

Above is a classic 1951 Sportif that displays the craftsmanship and design of Herse in his prime. Even though there is a lot going on with racks, lights and cantilever brakes, Herse made it all look elegant and coherent.

This is one of the last bikes built in the Herse shop, a 1980 Campeur that shows how the classic Herse features were updated during the late 1970s, with simpler lugs, a new stem design and ultra-long points on the fork crown. The craftsmanship on this bike is amazing, with every cable running inside the frame tubes – not just the rear brake, but also both derailleurs and even the remote control for the generator that powers the lights. These are just three of the twenty bikes that are featured in multiple studio photographs each, in addition to the hundreds of historic photographs of Herse’s bikes and their riders.
Click here for more information about the René Herse book or to order your copy.