"Tachyhippodamia!" Or, the Art of Taming Wild and Viscious Horses.

ILLUSTRATED HORSE WHISPERER BROADSIDE: A RAREY IMITATOR

[RAREY, John Solomon]. SELDEN, Dr. A[lbert]. W., of Louisville, Ky.'Tachyhippodamia!' Or, the Art of Taming Wild and Vicious Horses. Dr. A. W. Selden, of Louisville, KY., The World-Renowned Horse Doctor & Trainer, will give A Free Lecture on the Physiology, Diseases, Anatomy, and the Training and Handling of Horses, At [in manuscript: Union Hall, Millersville (Pa.)] on [in manuscript: Thursday Eve Sept. 8th at 7 O'clock]. The Doctor will, if the citizens wish, take up a Class and teach the whole VETERINARY SCIENCE...TAMING HORSES HE WILL TEACH THE FOLLOWING [10] THINGS...He will also introduce his INDIAN WAR BRIDLE, which if any Scholar says is not worth the Price of Tuition alone, no Charges will be made. Large folio broadside, 18 1/2 x 13 1/4", inside decorative border. N.p., n.d. [Wheeling, West Virginia?] Daily Intelligencer Print [1864?]. Another rip-off of the amazing John Solomon Rarey, the original horse whisperer. The only "Daily Intelligencer Print" we find was located in Wheeling, West Virginia. Rarey's system was a success, and his The Modern Art of Taming Wild Horses (Columbus, Ohio: 1856), spawned countless imitators. The New York Times, Monday, February 3, 1862, prints a 20-line advertisement for Selden's "Tachyhippodamia" show at Lindenmuller's Theatre, Bowery, in which he proclaims himself "the American Horse Master and equestrian missionary, the conqueror of Wm. [sic] Rarey in the great contest at Paris, Ill....", not getting Rarey's first name correct. To our knowledge, "Tachyhippodamia" was first used by Willis J. Powell, as the title of his book on the same subject, New Orleans, 1838. Apparently unrecorded, although we do find a similar unillustrated Philadelphia printed Selden advertisement for a performance to be given at Wilmington, Delaware, August 29, 1864 (Library Company of Philadelphia only). The fact that Selden is called a "Horse Doctor" here is confirmed by an unrecorded broadside we once owned wherein Selden proposed cures for various diseases and problems common to horses. Minor foxing, and slight damage to one corner of the decorative border.