Brian Hudson, “Transport and travel in the world of Arnold Bennett”, Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2017. The full-text PDF is in public open-access. Update: dead PDF link fixed, November 2020.
“He was also a cyclist during the 1890s and early years of the twentieth century when this activity became popular. It was a time when developments in bicycle design and the introduction of pneumatic rubber tyres together with road improvements made cycling more attractive. Bennett’s journals frequently mention both of these activities, recording his observations and thoughts as he travelled about by his own physical effort. Walking and cycling, alone or with his French wife Marguerite, were among the pleasures enjoyed by Bennett when the couple lived in Fontainebleau between 1908 and 1911. They walked and cycled in all kinds of weather, sometimes taking with them food and wine for roadside picnics, sometimes stopping in villages along the way for refreshment.”
I am a member of the Arnold Bennett Society and would like to use this picture in our next newsletter. Do you know who holds the copyright, or could you point me in the right direction. Thanks very much.
In that photo Bennett is perhaps 30 or 40 years old or thereabouts? That would put its date at around the turn of the century, maybe the 1910s – and thus in the public domain. No one “owns it” when they’re that old. There is, anyway, “fair use” for the purposes of illustrating criticism and scholarly work – which would cover your newsletter and this blog post.
Thanks. Yes I think that’s right for most photos though lots of very old photos are owned and copyrighted too. I’ve never seen this photo before, could you tell me where it was found. If your site is the only place it appears would it be OK to put a caption “AB on a bicycle, photo taken from ‘The Spyders of Burslem’ blog”? You have some great stuff on your website which our members would be very interested in.
Thanks
Rod
Thinking about it, I suspect it was placed online via the Keele collection which is likely how it was found via search. If you want a better scan to up-rez with Gigapixel AI, for a colorised cover picture for instance, then they would no doubt provide you with one. As the puny 500px 72dpi online version won’t get you far with print. In which case you’d credit them. Otherwise, to qualify for simple “fair use” in a newsletter you would have to provide some additional text other than the credit – either using the picture to illustrate scholarly commentary on the ‘golden age’ of pre-car cycling circa 1910, or directly commenting on the picture re: the personal historical context (where he was, who he might have been with, where going etc). As for pictures on my blog, yes, feel free to show those of an age likely to be in the public domain. Most are low-res though, so you may want a copy of Gigapixel AI to get them to A4 print-res (I assume your newsletter is A4). Though… even Gigapixel can’t work miracles.
That’s really helpful information, David, thanks. I’ll get in touch with Keele. Thanks for all the technical advice too.
Great. I’ve just looked at the covers for your newsletter. I was imagining an A4 photocopied and stapled newsletter, but I see it’s more like a society journal with colour covers. In which case you could also colorize the picture, as well as enlarging to a good print resolution.