Cherished Portraits of Thoroughbred Horses

England: Privately Printed, Ernest R. Gee, 1929. Limited edition of only 300. Full morocco binding by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. used/no dj as issued. Privately printed, Ernest R. Gee, 1929. Signed and inscribed by Woodward on front endpaper.. First edition. One of 300 copies. With 68 engraved plates of famous Thoroughbred Horses from 1764 - 1843 and three charts. vii, 297 pp., 13 x 10 x 2 inches. Original full red morocco, paneled spine with 5 raised bands, by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, Binding has signs of wear and some scuffing and small abrasions. Pages very good with slight browning on the edges. All plates have bound in tissue guards. Provenance: From the collection of Ken and Judy Klosterman, Loveland, OH


William Woodward was an American banker from a prominent family who also became a major owner and breeder in thoroughbred horse racing. He amassed a great collection of paintings related to thoroughbred horses over his lifetime and published this work as a gift to his friends to share his love of horses and horse racing. The author of the accompanying descriptions, Walter Vosburgh, was a turf historian who was the official handicapper for The Jockey Club and various other racing associations from 1894 to 1934. Woodward recollects in the Foreword: "Mr. Walter S. Vosburgh.and I were talking one day of my paintings, and I expressed the wish that he should come to see them. When he came one Sunday afternoon a few years ago, we spent an exceedingly agreeable afternoon together, for Mr. Vosburgh is so full of the lore of the Turf that every picture had its special meaning and every horse its special anecdote.I had asked him if he would write sketches of the principal horses whose portraits I then had. In due course he gave me a series of sketches, written in his own hand and of a delightful nature. With his permission, they accompany the reproductions of the portraits which they supplement.