AMMON, Georg Gottlieb. Von der Zucht und Veredelung der Pferde durch öffentliche und Privatgestüte. Eine Anleitung für diejenigen, welche sich mit Nutzen mit der Zucht und Veredelung der Pferde beschäftigen wollen. Berlin, Flittner: 1818.
(200 x 115 mm) pp. xxxii, 248 plus foldout table between 230 and 231. Signatures: π8, b 16, B-P8, Q4. Collated and complete. Minor waterstains to edge of fly leaves, but internally clean. Contemporary binding in half calf and brown-green marbled paper and gilt stamps on spine, with bumping to end bands and corners. Loss of top endband. Foldout has tear in corner and in a fragile state, but holding on. RARE. Overall GOOD condition.
Horses have changed human history. The care and training of horses has been well-documented, with the first written record dating to ca. 1360 B.C. undertaken on clay tablets in Hittite describing a training program for chariot horses. As tools of war, travel, labor, or companionship, these animals have been instrumental across the world in developing civilisation.
Georg Gottlieb Ammon (1773-1839) made a name for himself in the late 18th and early 19th century as the Chief Inspector of the Prussian stud farm in Veßra. This rare, early 19th century tract on the breeding (zucht) of horses and cultivating their noble comportment (veredelung) is his first published work on the matter.