Livre pour la remede pour les chevaux [Book of the remedy for horses]

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred citation:

MSS 16817, Livre pour la remede, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Summary

Extent:
.25 Cubic Feet 1 document box (half-width legal)
Creator:
W.S. Cotter Rare Books
Language:
French
Preferred citation:

MSS 16817, Livre pour la remede, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains an anonymous author's unpublished vernacular manuscript on equine health. This manuscript was likely used as a tool by veterinarians or educated farmers in western France in the middle of the eighteenth century. The manuscript is divided into two parts. The first and longer part occupies the first 178 pages and is in a single legible hand. The second part, likely in a different and somewhat later hand, comprises the last eight pages.

The first part of the manuscript contains a procedural manual to cure horses of their afflictions and would have been understood and used not only by veterinarians but by laypersons. The anonymous author may have does seem to draw on three published sources: Samuel Fouquet de Beaurepere's "Traite des remedes les plus utiles & necessaires pour la guerison des chevaux", published at Paris by J. Le Gras in 1663; the anonymous "Maladies des chevaux avec leurs remedes faciles et experimentez -- Ouvrage tres-utile a tous seigneurs, gentilshommes, escuyers, marechaux, marchands de chevaux, laboreurs, cochers et tous autres qui ont des chevaux a gouverner" printed at Vannes by Jacques de Heuqueville in 1694; and 1740 edition of Antonio de Arriques's "L'art de panser et de guerir toutes les maladies des chevaux," edited by G. Jollain. However, the author has summarized these texts and inserted original work to produce a tailored book specific to the needs of a certain farm or stable, likely located in the Charente-Maritime region of western France. The second part of the manuscript beginning on page 179, lists expenses, veterinary prescriptions and recipes, and miscellaneous notes on farm administration.

Acquisition information:
This collection was purchased from W. S. Cotter Rare Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 1 May 2023. Late-eighteenth-Century custodial signature to the last page is completely crossed out and illegible. Monsieur M., an anonymous collector whose books and manuscripts (this one included), were dispersed at auction on October 5-6, 2022; acquired by Philippe Deblaise of Germozac, France. Acquired by W.S. Cotter from M. Deblaise in late 2022.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Horses
Veterinary medicine
Names:
W.S. Cotter Rare Books
Places:
France