[Photo album of the work and products of the James Cycle Co. Ltd. 1940s. 150 b & w photos on 81 leaves. Includes portrait photos of company founder Harry James, and engineer and later managing director Frank Kimberley (who was with the company over 50 years); photos of bicycles and (chiefly) motorcycles (the earliest being 1900) including advertising illustrations and manual assembly; interior views of works and workshop practices; wartime activity, including manufacture of aeroplane parts and shell and bomb casings (and female operatives); record photos of motorcycles exported to the US and their marketing by distributors S.H. Lynch & Co., New Orleans, ca. 1946]

In the first half of the twentieth century the James Cycle Co Ltd was an important maker of cycles and motorcycles. This album features photographs of these products and of the factory interior. It also includes views of wartime activity such as the manufacture of aeroplane parts and of bomb and shell casings. Some of these feature women operatives. The album was acquired because it is a good pictorial record of a significant industry and many of the photographs are likely to be in demand for use in publications and research.