The Anatomy of the Horse. Including A particular Description of the Bones, Cartilages, Muscles, Fascias, Ligaments, Nerves, Arteries, Veins, and Glands

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First edition, First issue, 1766, 24 fine engraved plates In re-backed contemporary half calf over blue marbled boards, some blind tooling, edges bumped & worn. Spine with gilt tooling, plus gilt titles to the original calf label. Internally, title & reader leaves followed by 24 fine engraved plates, all washed, depicting 36 horses, accompanied by 47 printed pages (some light browning), lacking the errata slip, a few leaves with 1 or 2 tiny pin holes to margins, 'To the Reader' and final leaf with repaired tears to verso, small ink stamp to title and one other text leaf, a couple of other minor professional repairs, marbled endpapers, preserved in modern cloth drop-back box. (560*444 mm). (Huth p42; ESTC T147211; Garrison and Morton 308.1; Lennox-Boyd Stubbs, pp. 165-188; Mellon Books on the Horse and Horsemanship 57; Nissen ZBI 4027). A very good copy of this landmark work on equine anatomy. This copy in the first issue, without watermarks and on laid paper. The artist, previously renowned as a portrait painter, became synonymous with depicting horses after this work was published. It highlighted his supreme draughtsmanship & observational talents. Provenance: Royal Veterinary College (ink library stamp). This copy came from the private collection of the late book dealer and collector, Norman Comben, who was permitted to purchase a few duplicate copies from the RVC library in return for a detailed cataloguing of their collection many years ago; Dr Niall Kenny (small circular bookplate).