Bonhams 1793 : DICKSON (WILLIAM, Lieutenant, 6th Bengal Cavalry) Cursory Remarks, Tending to Point Out the Probably Advantages of Castrating the Horses and Camels, Employed for the Military Purposes of India, FIRST EDITION, 1810

Cursory Remarks, Tending to Point Out the Probably Advantages of Castrating the Horses and Camels, Employed for the Military Purposes of India, FIRST EDITION, blindstamp on 2 leaves, ownership inscription "Wellington, Apsley House" on title, contemporary red morocco gilt, g.e., slightly scuffed, small 8vo, Calcutta, at the Mirror Press, by Patrick Crichton, 1810

Sold for £1,062 inc. premium

Footnotes

RARE CALCUTTA PRINTING, no copy listed on COPAC. The work is a detailed, and suprisingly heartfelt, treatise on the many benefits to the British military in India of castrating their horses and camels, from the animals' behaviour to the costs of keeping. The author, of the 6th Bengal Cavalry, draws on a deep knowledge of Arab practices of husbandry, asking "what physical impediments... prevent the Camel of Hindoostan from the being treated in the same way as the Camel of Arabia?", with a discussion on the local customs of Indian zemindars. The author also dicusses information on the benefit of mares over horses gained from "Lord Wellington's Campaigns in Spain...".

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