A Lady's Horse; With a Few Words on the Proper Costume for Riding, Walking, Dining; and Recent Letters on the Latter Subject Collected from The "Times," Etc. Etc.
London: John Tallis, Printer, 1859. First edition. Hardcover (original brown cloth, blind- and gilt-stamped). 54p, no ills. Fair (shaken, foxed; a few detached pages). Item #32496
The second title page reads: A Lady's Horse: How to Select, Ride, and Guide It; with a Description of the Most Graceful Costume Proper for This Healthful Exercise. Written by a Well-Known Riding Master in One of Her Majesty's Light Cavalry Regiments, Expressly for H.J. and D. Nicoll, Habit Makers to the Royal Family." The Nicoll firm presented this horsemanship-cum-etiquette book to prospective buyers of their riding habits and other ladies' and gentlemen's tailored clothing. Lady attendants waited on the ladies. It contains advice on riding (some extracted from Mrs. J. Stirling Clarke's The Habit and the Horse), including jumping and--most unusually for the day--several pages on "how a lady . . . may succeed in training a colt for her own use." Also much on hosting a dinner appropriate to one's income, and much on the Nicoll firm's methods of tailoring, their extensive use of sewing machines, and the like. Extremely scare in any condition: WorldCat locates 3 copies (Virginia, Yale, Oxford). Not in the British Library, Grimshaw, or Wells. Can be sent outside the US for less than the default shipping rate.
Price: $400.00