FRANCE - CAVALRY SCHOOL - SAUMUR. Paris, printed by Lemercie - Lot 16

FRANCE - CAVALRY SCHOOL - SAUMUR. Paris, printed by Lemercier, n.d. [1869 or 1870]. An in-plano volume, in the publisher’s full red cloth, with a gilt title on the front cover. A small tear on the spine; creases and tears on the half-title page with no missing text; scattered foxing; water damage along the top margin of 4 plates, which does not affect the subject matter. A rare and luxurious album dedicated to the glory of the French cavalry at Saumur. It consists of a frontispiece title page printed in bistre, 7 pp. of text, including a historical note, a panoramic view of the school in a two-color lithograph by Bachelier, and 13 color lithographs by Albert Adam and Tom Drake depicting carousel figures and riding exercises (ring race, head race, pillar jumps, free jumps, show jumping, steeplechase, and hunting); the entire work is mounted on tabs. “An important work of meticulous execution, interesting not only from the perspective of the exercises depicted, but also in terms of the cavalry uniforms at the end of the Second Empire.” (Mennessier de la Lance I, 436.)