Gift from the King of Sweden, hand-coloured in 1797

Eisenberg, [Friedrich Wilhelm] von. L'art de monter a cheval, ou description du manege moderne, dans sa perfection.

€ 12,500.00

A truly royal copy of Eisenberg's famous riding school, which boasts beautiful illustrations of horses and horsemen (repeated from the 1727 first edition), engraved by B. Picart. Arabian horses in particular are lauded as "the most beautiful produced by the Orient. They are exceptionally fine animals, especially those from the hills of Mokha [...] Arabian horses are full of fire and vigour in general and are possessed of a great natural agility [...] Their start is like lightning, and so they are incomparable for racing and tournaments, for they are skillful as well as swift". Baron Eisenberg was one of the most famous equestrians of his day and served royalty throughout Europe as a riding instructor.

Wants a single plate (no. 37, "Le Superbe") and explanatory text (passage in a straight line after the German fashion), otherwise an excellent copy in full near-contemporary colour. Provenance: gift from Prince Gustaf of Sweden (1736-92, later King Gustav III) to Claes Julius Ekeblad (1742-1808), son of the agronomist countess Eva Ekeblad, the first female member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and of Claes Claesson Ekeblad, with autograph ownership to engraved title: "j'ai eu ce livre de S. A. R. Monseigneur le Prince Gustave, Prince Hereditaire de Suede, Le 23 Novembr. 1764 Claes Julius Ekeblad"; additional note "illuminerad 1797 med färgor af ayaren / Claes Ekeblad" ("coloured with egg tempera in 1797"). Later in the collection of the Swedish statesman and diplomat Lars von Engeström (1751-1826) with his engraved armorial bookplate (motto "speravit infestis", "hopeful in adversity") to pastedown.