[BUNBURY, Sir Henry William (1750-1811, illustrator)]. - "Geoffrey GAMBADO" (pseudonym)

An Academy for Grown Horsemen, containing the completest instructions for walking, trotting, cantering, galloping, stumbling and tumbling. Illustrated with copper plates, and adorned with a portrait of the Author. By Geoffrey Gambado

London: printed for W. Dickinson, S. Hooper and Messrs. Robinsons, 1787. Quarto. (12 1/2 x 9 inches). 12 stipple-engraved plates by W. Dickinson after Bunbury, all printed in bistre.

Expertly bound to style in half 18th-century russia over 18th-century marbled paper-covered boards, the flat spine divided into six compartments by gilt fillets and roll tools, black morocco lettering-piece in the second compartment, the others with repeat decoration in gilt.

First edition of this popular work.

Henry William Bunbury was one of the most beloved English humorists of his day. By turning his back on controversial political caricature, Bunbury made a name for himself as a subtle and ingenious social satirist. In this vein he mocked many of the fashions and follies of the age depicting scenes of university life and, in the present work, the antics of horsemen. Lowndes calls this work a "lively and entertaining jeu d'esprit of the pencil and pen."

Lowndes II, p.860 (attributing the text to Bunbury).

Item #23534

Price: $700.00