La Guérinière - École de Cavalerie - 1754

THE TRUE LUXURY OF THE ARISTOCRACY: TAINING THE HORSE WITH GENTLENESS
A monumental work of European equestrian culture, François Robichon de La Guérinière’s École de cavalerie constitutes the foundational text of modern classical riding and one of the most influential technical codifications of the art of horsemanship ever published. Intended for an aristocratic, military, and courtly elite, the work transforms the handling of the horse from empirical practice into a rational discipline, built on balance, harmony, biomechanics, and absolute control of the gesture. In this treatise the horse is no longer merely a instrument of war or prestige, but becomes an organism to be scientifically understood and guided through measure, lightness, and precision. The specimen described here, complete in two volumes and preserved in contemporaneous binding, preserves the charm of the great French equine publishing house of the eighteenth century: a book born in the royal stables and destined to influence European riding for centuries, from the French school to the Viennese Hofreitschule.
MARKET VALUE
Complete eighteenth-century editions of the École de cavalerie hold a position of absolute prominence in the market for international equine bibliographies. Complete two-volume copies of the Paris 1754 edition generally fetch values between 1,000 and 3,000 euros. The constant international demand for the great historical texts of horsemanship also makes La Guérinière one of the most stable and sought-after authors in the entire antiquarian equine field.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Two volumes. Contemporary full leather bindings with marbled backs, richly gilt decorated raised bands. Red edges. Pages well preserved with light and natural marginal browning.
The first volume includes the famous engraved portrait of the author, numerous engravings in the text, typographic ornaments, ornamental initials and decorated initial letters. There are a few slight woodworm holes at the lower right margin and two minor marginal losses, with no text loss or damage to the plates.
The second volume remains in particularly fresh condition, with sharp engraving impressions and good-quality paper; also present are two folded plates. The illustrative apparatus fully preserves its didactic and decorative function, a fundamental element in the work’s fortunes.
Collation: pp. (2); 18 nn.; 318; 2 nn.; (4). Second volume: (4); 4 nn.; 300; (4).
Overall very good preservation for a technical work of intensive use. In old books, with centuries-long histories, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description.
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
École de cavalerie, contenant la connoissance, l’instruction, et la conservation du cheval.
Paris, par la Compagnie, 1754.
François Robichon de La Guérinière.
CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
With La Guérinière, European equitation definitively enters modernity. Before the publication of the École de cavalerie, the horsemanship tradition was dominated by knowledge often fragmentary, inherited from Italian and Spanish masters of the Renaissance and transmitted through court practices or non-systematic technical treatises. La Guérinière instead builds a coherent, organic, and almost scientific method, destined to redefine the entire relationship between rider and horse.
The fundamental principle of the work is “lightness”: the horse must be guided without brutality, through balance, sensitivity, and progressive muscular education. In this sense the treatise implicitly opposes many coercive practices still widespread in the seventeenth century. The true strength of the rider no longer lies in the violence of action, but in the ability to obtain obedience through precision and harmony.
The work systematically covers:
Anatomy and conformation of the horse;
Theory of gaits;
Bits and bridles;
Training techniques;
Lungeing exercises;
Mounted balance;
Military and academic preparation;
Correction of behavioral faults;
Advanced figures such as piaffe, passage, volte, and changes of gait.

Particularly revolutionary was the biomechanical conception of the animal: La Guérinière understood that the horse works best when in natural balance, anticipating principles that are today fundamental in high-school dressage.
The engravings constitute one of the most important elements of the work. They are not mere ornaments but true didactic plates that translate movement into image. The horse’s postures, the rider’s positions, and the geometry of the riding are depicted with almost architectural clarity, reflecting the rational taste of the French Enlightenment.
The treatise enjoyed immense diffusion across European courts. It was used in military academies, aristocratic riding schools, and great royal stables. Its influence traverses the entire Western equestrian tradition and reaches the Scuola Spagnola of Vienna, which still today recognizes La Guérinière as one of its theoretical fathers.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
François Robichon de La Guérinière (1688–1751) was the most celebrated riding master of eighteenth-century France. Born into a family tied to the equestrian world, he gained the greatest notoriety as director of the Tuileries riding house and “écuyer du Roi.” His fame stemmed from his ability to combine daily practice, anatomical observation, and theoretical reflection into a coherent and innovative method.
Contrary to the more rigid and coercive seventeenth-century tradition, La Guérinière advocated an approach based on the horse’s natural balance and the progressive education of movement. His theories revolutionized European horsemanship and deeply influenced the French, German, and Austrian schools. He is still regarded today as the founder of modern classical riding.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The first edition of the École de cavalerie appeared in Paris in 1733 and was immediately recognized as the most important treatise on horses of its time. The work went through numerous reprintings in the eighteenth century and was translated into several European languages, attesting to its enormous international fortune.
The 1754 edition described here belongs to the consolidation phase and maximal diffusion of the text. It preserves the iconographic layout and technical structure of the princeps, confirming the work’s central role in French aristocratic and military culture. Its circulation in noble libraries and equestrian academies helped transform the treatise into one of the cultural symbols of Enlightenment equitation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Mennessier de La Lance, Bibliographie hippique, II, pp. 276–279.
Huth, Works on Horses and Equitation, p. 43.
Nissen, ZBI, 2234.
Brunet, Manuel du libraire, III, coll. 1021–1022.
Cicognara, Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità, no. 1510.
Lipperheide, Sammlung für Kostümwissenschaft, repertori iconografici equestri del XVIII secolo.
ICCU/OPAC SBN, identificazioni multiple dell’edizione parigina del 1754.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Philosophie, histoire, sciences de l’homme, edizioni settecentesche della École de cavalerie.
Benezit, Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs, voci relative agli incisori dell’opera.
The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, historical references to La Guérinière and classical dressage tradition.