La Guérinière - Ecole de Cavalerie - 1756

Rare edition, richly illustrated, of one of the fundamental texts of equestrian literature.
The treatise, first published in 1733, is organized systematically: anatomy and knowledge of the horse, principles of training, description of the movements of haute école (classical dressage), and a section devoted to the care and health of the animal.
The refined engraved plates show exercises, postures, and figures of riding, transforming the volume into a true atlas of horsemanship.

The author, François Robichon de La Guérinière (1688–1751), was écuyer du roi and director of the Manège des Tuileries in Paris. Considered the father of French classical horsemanship, he managed to fuse Italian tradition and French rigor, giving shape to a method destined to endure through the centuries.

Available only Tome I (of 2).

De La Guérinière, Ecole de cavalerie contenant la connoissance, l'instruction et la conservation du cheval. Tome Premier, Paris, Par La Compagnie, 1756.

PP.: (XVI), 319, (I). COMPLETE, with 32 plates out of text (of which one is on the Title Page, a Portrait, and 4 folding).

Copy with leaves in overall good to very good condition. Usual signs of use and age.

Contemporary full leather binding with title and gilt ornaments on the spine, with some wear to the corners but well preserved overall. Endpapers in marbled paper. Red edges.

Prestigious provenance: the ex-libris label of the extinct private noble library of J. Gallian de Fontenay is present.