Cavalarice, or, the English Horseman: Contayning all the Art of Horse-Manship, asmuch as is necessary for any man to understand, whether hee be Horse-breeder, horse-ryder, horse-hunter, horse-runner, horse-ambler, horse-farrier, horse-keeper, Coachman, Smith, or Sadler. Together, with the discovery of the subteil trade or mystery of horsecoursers, an an explanation of the excellency of a horses understanding: or how to teach the to do trickes like Banks his Cutrrall: and that Horses may be made to draw dry-foot like a Hound. Secrets before unpublished, & now carefully set downe for the profit of this whole Nation

London: Edward White, 1617. Leather. Very Good. 7.5" by 5.5". Not Stated. The second edition of this immensely important work on Arabian horses, written by the man, Robert Markham, who brought the now common breed to England for the first time. Illustrated with in-text woodcuts throughout. A very important work. The second edition of this work.ESTC citation number S112112.Illustrated with a cartouche to the title page, seven cartouches for each section of the book, and sixty-seven in-text woodcuts.Register runs as [1], [A1], A2-A8, B-I5, [-I6], I7-Aaa8, Bbb7, [-Bbb8]. Register is continuous, but each book has a separate pagination.Collated, bound without leaves I6 and Bbb8, both leaves of text, however other than lacking these two leaves the work is complete.Publishing information is taken from the ESTC, no publisher or location is listed to the title page.Dedication leaf A3 is printed in duplicate.Leaves V4 to Y1 with some errors to pagination. The text is continuous with correctly corresponding catch-words.Rebound in a fine panelled speckled calf binding with decorative gilt to the spine.An important work, one of the earliest works on horses and horsemanship, and written by the first British owner and dealer in Arabian horses.This is an important work, first published in 1607, as the author's work breeding and dealing in Arabian horses led to the huge popularity of the breed; Arabian bloodlines are found in almost every modern breed of riding horse today, so Markham's importance cannot be stressed in his importance of horse breeding in the Western world. This work shows his passion and belief in the superiority of the Arabian horse breed.The first Arabian stallion was imported by Markham and King James I to England in 1616.Markham praises both Turkish and Barb horses, and their virtues, stating that they are beyond all other types of horses, and it is clear to see his reasoning in this work.This work featured the secrets of William Bankes, who was the master of the performing horse Marocco, a performing horse who was popular during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Marocco was able to walk on two and three legs, play dead, was able to distinguish between colours, and pull out particular audience member on Bankes' commands. He was also trained to bow to Queen Elizabeth I. He and Bankes were two of the most popular entertainers of London.The second edition of this very important work. Rebound in a panelled speckled calf binding. Externally, fine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are lightly age-toned, some leaves are more heavily age-toned, and generally clean with some scattered spots and scattered handling marks. Minor edgewear to textblock, not causing any loss, but just a small amount of edgewear. Small puncture marks to the gutter of gatherings N to Cc, and Ff to Rr. The eight cartouches are a little trimmed to the fore edges, close cropping affecting the image of the cartouches for Books 4 and 6, though not affecting the images a large amount. Central text panel of the engraved title page has been tipped in with a little heavier age-toned paper to the rest of the title page, however the original title page does not appear to have any loss to this panel, so it's unclear why it was tipped in. Clear tape repair to the margins to the reverse of the title page, repairing some very small chips. Clear tape repair to the margin of leaves A1 and A2, and to the tail of leaf A8. Prior owner's ink inscription to leaf A2, both A3 leaves, leaves A4, A7, and A8, inscription to the second A3 is smudged. Small chip to the second A3, affecting one word only. Small tidemark to the head of leaves A3 to A6. Leaf D1 is misprinted as being leaf C1, however it is leaf D1 and the text is continuous. Very small closed tear to the head of leaf E5 with no loss and not affecting text. Leaves F3 to F7 with a small tidemark to the tail. Very small scorch mark to G6, affecting 2 words very minimally. Tape repair to leaf I1, with a small amount of the clear tape over the image. Small tape repair to the edges of leaves I2 and I3. Bound without leaf I6. Small ink splatter to leaf I8. Small tidemark to the tail of gatherings K and M. Small closed tear to the margin of leaf L4. Leaf L6 with a prior owner's ink annotation, not pertaining to text, but simply random words and letters. Leaves Q1, Q2, and Y1 with a small tidemark to the tail. Very small wormhole to the tail of leaves T4 to T8, not affecting text at all. Small tape repairs to leaves T6, T7, and T8. Small ink splatter to leaf Bb3. Random prior owner's ink inscription to leaf Dd6. Gatherings Ee and Ff with a small ink mark to the tail of the leaves. Leaf Tt2 with a small closed tear to the tail, not affecting text. Chip to the fore edge of leaf Yy1, a large chip that does not affect text at all. Leaves Yy6 and Yy7 with a small tidemark to the tail. Leaves Zz2 to Zz8 with a small diagonally cut chip to the bottom and fore edge, not affecting text at all, though it is affecting the cartouche for Book 8, affecting the image only a very small amount. Reverse of leaf Aaa5 with a smudged ink inscription. Ink inscription to leaf Aaa7. Tape repairs to the edges of leaves Bbb6 and Bbb7, with leaf Bbb7 being worn with repaired chips to the extremities, with no loss of text to either leaf. Small scorch marks to the margin of leaves Bbb4 to Bbb7, not affecting text at all. Bound without leaf Bbb8. Leaf L4 and L5 are detached but present. Very Good