Anweisung zur guten Pferdezucht and Wartung by C.S. Richter

Anweisung zur guten Pferdezucht und Wartung auch wie man ein guter Pfedekenner werden könne.:Nebst einer beylage von den Betrügereyen der Rosshändler, wie auch von den vorzüglichsten Krankheiten and Curen der Pferde/für Landwirthe und Sonstige Pferdeliebhaber Herausgegeben von C.S. Richter

Bibliographic description

Front book cover
Back book cover

Richter, C.S. Anweisung zur guten Pferdezucht und Wartung, auch wie man ein guter Pferdekenner werden könne.: Nebst einer Beylage von den Betrügereyen der Rosshändler, wie auch von den vorzüglichsten Krankheiten und Curen der Pferde/für Landwirthe und Sonstige Pferdeliebhaber Herausgegeben von C.S. Richter. Halle: Bey Johann Jacob Gebauer, 1795. This is a second edition copy of C.S. Richter’s book on breeding and maintaining horses, as well as becoming a good horse connoisseur. It contains two folded pages in the back of the book with wonderful diagrams of horses detailing the different parts of the horse. The front and back pasteboards contain gold embossed stamps containing a coat of arms. The spine is fragile, parts of the top and bottom crumbling off from age. There are two gold embossed stamps of the title and author on the spine as well, however parts of it have started coming off with the spine. The front and back boards are still in good condition, with small tears at the bottom and corners from use, but given the books age it has held up well. The pages are in excellent condition, with no signs of age damage and surprisingly blank margins.

The Publisher

This book was published by Johann Jakob Gebauer, the second owner of a prominent publishing house during the 18th and 19th centuries in Halle Saale, Germany. Johann Justinus Gebauer (1710-1772) first owned the publishing house and during his time published over 500 works including the first edition Canstein Bible, 30 volumes of Universal History by Georg David Kypke and Johann Salomo Semler, and the 24 volume edition of Martin Luther’s writings1. After Gebauer’s death in 1772, the company was continued by his son Johann Jakob Gebauer. In the mid-nineteenth century the publishing house was merged with Carl August Schwetschke by marriage, who renamed the company Gebauer-Schwetschke2.

The books importance

This book would have been a luxury item for buyers who were looking to breed and maintain horses. It is packed with information about when and how to breed horses, what to do for fouls in certain months of the year, as well as information about how to know you are dealing with fraudulent horse sellers. This would have been extremely useful for farmers who were looking to get into the business of horse breeding, or even taking it up as a hobby.

Provenance

Oliver Belmont

On the front board of the book there is a bookplate with a coat of arms containing an anchor, a lamb, and an eagle, along with the words “Sans Crainte”. This bookplate shows that the book belonged to Oliver Belmont, a wealthy New York socialite, financier, and publisher3 According to the Catalogue 300 of Rare Books by Urus Rate Books Ltd. New York, provenance from another book that was in Belmont’s collection that is now in their collection suggests that he was one of the original owners of Belmont Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in New York City5

Alfred B. Maclay
C.S Richter’s book from a sellers catalogue of Alfred B. Maclay’s collection

On the first blank page of the book there is a bookplate with the words, “Ex Libris Alfred B. Maclay”, the second owner of this book after Oliver Belmont. Alfred Barmore Maclay was a New York financier. He had a passion for horses and horse shows, as well as collecting literature on horsemanship, falconry, and hunting as shown in his extensive collection that was auctioned off in January of 1956 by his wife, a decade after his death6.

Dr. Ulrich Jahn
Dr. Ulrich Jahn bookplate

Under the Oliver Belmont bookplate in the bottom lefthand corner of the front board is a bookplate with the words, “Dr. Ulrich Jahn No. 62 Book Catalogue”. Little could be found about Dr. Ulrich Jahn and his book catalogue, however he did own another book that was also owned by Oliver Belmont called Gratae et laboribus aequae posteritati. Caesareas sanctique patris longo ordine turmas aspice et Artifice by Nicolaus Hogenburg, also a rare book. In this collection his bookplate reads that the book was number 87. Based on the numerical system it is suggested that Dr. Ulrich Jahn had an extensive collection of rare books, however the reason for his collection is unknown.

Footnotes

  1. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Justinus_Gebauer
  2. http://www.gebauerschwetschke.halle.de/gs/home/Verlagsgeschichte
  3. Davis, Kay, and University of Virginia. “Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont.” Class and Leisure at America’s First Resort: Newport, Rhode Island, 1870-1914. Accessed October 18, 2018.
    http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/davis/newport/biographies/belmo
    nt.html.
  4. Catalogue 300 Rare Books. PDF. New York City: Ursus Rare Books Ltd.
  5. https://www.belmontstakes.com/history/
  6. Parke-Bernet Galleries, and Alfred Barmore Maclay. 1956. Rare seventeenth-nineteenth century books on horsemanship, falconry and hunting…: collected by the late Alfred B. Maclay … sold by order of Mrs Maclay: together with first editions, standard sets, Americana, fine art and other books… from other sources: public auction sale, Tuesday and Wednesday, January 10 and 11 at 1:45 p.m. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries.
  7. Nicolaus. “AbeBooks.” By HOGENBERG, Nicolaus (c.1500-1539).: [The Hague (Hagae-Comitis)]: By Hendrick Hondius [the Elder (1573- 1650)], [1610]. -Arader Galleries – Aradernyc. January 01, 1970. Accessed October 18, 2018. https://www.abebooks.com/Gratae- laboribus-aequae-posteritati-Caesareas-sanctique/11065632181/bd.

Created by Meagan Hopkins for Professor Brockey’s HST 475 class, Fall 2018, Michigan State University

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