Newmarket & Arabia.: An Examination of the Descent of Racers and Coursers.

London: Henry S. King & Co., , 1873. First edition of Upton's account of the bloodlines of British thoroughbreds. He was an early expert on the subject and enlisted the help of "an Arabian gentleman of a Nejdean family" (Preface), who confirmed this book's accuracy. Upton intended the work to "point out errors that have been committed in the breeding of our horse" (ibid). A captain in the 9th Lancers, Roger Dawson Upton (d. 1881), travelled to Arabia shortly after publishing this work in order to obtain pure-bred horses to improve the quality of British cavalry remounts. He also wrote Gleanings from the Deserts of Arabia (1881). Octavo. Original brown cloth ruled in black, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, large gilt block of a horse's head on front cover, green coated endpapers, binder's ticket of "A. Webster and Larkin" to front pastedown. Hand-coloured wood-engraved frontispiece by the author, with tissue-guard, and 4 folding pedigrees at the rear. Library label of the Horsham Club dated 1920 on front pastedown. Light wear to ends and corners, some markings to cloth, neat repair to front inner hinge, front free endpaper and frontispiece neatly reattached, occasional light spots to contents, closed tears or neat repairs to verso of folding plates. A good copy. Podeschi 216.