Il dilettante de' cavalli
¥110,100 JPY
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Horse husbandry by a skilled military, naivë woodcuts and expert plates
Brezé (Bersezio), Gioachino Bonaventura Argentero (marchese di)
Il dilettante de' cavalli
dato in luce sotto il nome di Saggio sopra le Razze, in cui trattasi delle razze delle Giumente, e Stalloni, e de' Puledri, e delle lor qualità e bellezze, e de' modi di nodrirli, allevarli, castrarli, ferrarli, e imbrigliarli (...).
1795, Venezia (Venice), Presso il Martini
Second Edition
¥110,100 JPY
Sale price
¥110,100 JPY
Regular price
Overview
In 12mo. Pp. [1] f.e., 237, IV folding plates, [1] r.e.
In this agile booklet, horse knowledge becomes both rural science and a defense against the hazards of the marketplace. The work gathers late-eighteenth-century equestrian practice into a portable Italian handbook, firmly rooted in the Enlightenment culture of useful knowledge, where natural history, husbandry, veterinary practice, and commercial prudence meet in the body of the horse. The work is attributed to the Piedmontese Marquis Gioachino Bonaventura Argentero di Bersezio, a cavalry general and passionate hippologist. Dissatisfied with conventional military teaching, he devoted himself to the study of horses, cavalry tactics, and even troop psychology, and traveled to Prussia to procure horses for the royal armies. In his Turin palace he assembled a "choice library of all the military authors." His interests extended well beyond the stable: a founder of the Turin Academy of Sciences, he maintained his own chemical laboratory and mineralogical collection and moved in intellectual circles that included Lagrange and Lessing. This 1795 Italian edition claims fidelity to an earlier Turin edition of 1780 (followed by a Venice one in 1782) and to its copperplates (although neither 1780 nor 1782 are present in any Italian Library, as per OPAC SBN), and following the French edition of 1769.
Inside the book
The little book opens with a title page framed by a decorative typographical woodcut border, and featuring a woodcut vignette of horses in a rural landscape, executed in a rather naïve and charming style. After surveying eleven "articles" on horse husbandry, equine science, and veterinary practice (together providing a broad overview of contemporary equestrian knowledge, from choosing the right animals to diseases and shoeing) the book moves to the "Saggio sopra le Razze de' Cavalli" (p. 77, Essay on Horse Breeds), which includes an analytical examination of the tricks employed by horse dealers ("Furberie de' Sensali") and offers advice on protection against fraud. This is followed by the "Trattato della Meccanica del Morso" (p. 139), a treatise on the mechanics and action of the bit, and by several other specific chapters intended to assist in the practical management of a stable. Authorities cited include Buffon, the Duke of Newcastle, and a farrier of the French royal stables. In addition to the woodcut title vignette, the volume is decorated with woodcut head-pieces in the same naïve and charming manner. Their distinctly popular style appears somewhat old-fashioned for an eighteenth-century book and contrasts strikingly with the four folding copperplates, executed in a much more accomplished and technically precise manner. These illustrate the anatomical parts of the horse; jaws and teeth according to age, together with the lower leg and hoof; bits and parts of the bridle; and, finally, a large folding view of a stable interior.
Condition
Contemporary half-leather binding with marbled paper boards; manuscript label to the spine, slightly rubbed. Some scattered light foxing and browning, especially in the first part of the volume. Tears with minor loss to the margins not affecting text at pp. 21 and 149; at p. 179 touching one line of text. Folding plates in very good condition. A genuine copy, very good.
Dimensions (inches): 6 1/4 x 3 3/4 x 3/4
Why La Fenice likes it
The charm of contradictions: naive woodcuts that would not look out of place in a village almanac, bound alongside four folding copperplates of anatomy, teeth, bits and a stable interior, drawn by a hand that clearly knew what it was doing. And a cavalry general who found military teaching inadequate, and dedicated personal resources to improve his knowledge.
About the author
Gioachino Bonaventura Argentero, Marquis of Bersezio (shortened in Brezé, 1727-1796), Piedmontese cavalry general and Enlightenment polymath whose passion for horses united military practice, hippology, and scientific inquiry.
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