Overview

In 8vo. Pp. [1] f.e., VIII, 135, [1], VI plates, [1] r.e.

First edition of an early Italian manual on horsemanship addressed specifically to women. The author, signing only "F., L." and declaring himself a cousin of the Milanese noblewoman Luigia Lecchi Greppi, takes Pons d'Hostun's "Écuyer des Dames" of 1806 as his model, gathering its precepts and adapting them for the instruction of women in a distinctly Milanese context. Published in Milan in 1827, the work appeared at a curious moment in the city's history. Under Austrian administration, Milan was establishing itself as the economic and financial powerhouse of the Italian peninsula, while remaining a remarkably vivacious intellectual and cultural center. Open rebellion had been suppressed and political life was closely watched by the Austrian police, yet Milan's intellectual circles continued to sustain a spirit of resistance through literature, philosophy, and cultural exchange. The model for the work, Louis-Henri de Pons d'Hostun, approached his female reader as a rider first and a lady second. The Milanese adaptation follows him closely, offering a precise repertory of his precepts while transferring them into the social and cultural world of Restoration Milan.

Ref. Bibliothèque mondiale du cheval (online).