Walter Farley, Horse Books, & Robin Bledsoe

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

Lest we forget more traditional ways of buying books:

The largest used horse book dealer in the US is Robin Bledsoe.
She operates out of Cambridge, Massachusetts.  (If you can get
to her shop near Harvard Square, ah, Nirvana...).

Her phone number is:  617-576-3634
Her email is:  rbledsoe@world.std.com
Her shop is:  1640 Massachusetts Ave
              Cambridge, MA  02138
              Tues-Sat, 11-6 or by appointment.  Look for
              the vertical "1640" banner between
              Shepard & Langdon Streets, near Starbucks,
              just north of Harvard Square.

Robin has an encyclopoedic knowledge of horse books, both
current and past.  In addition to her used horse book business,
she also sells current hard-to-get volumes from Europe.
For example, from her current 2001 catalog:

Albright, Verne:  The Long Way to Los Gatos, Solvange, CA., Amigo
1999.  392p.  many photos.  Greatly expanded edition of _In the
Saddle, Across the Three Americas_ (1969), about the author's
adventure-filled ride from Peru to California on his Peruvian
Pasos.

Or:

Diderot & D'Alembert [Paris] Inter-Livres 1988.  Variously
paged, many illustrations.  Diderot's monumental 18th century
_Encyclopedie_ is an invaluable source for the arts and
industries of pre-Revolutionary France.  This facsimile reprint
contains the engraved plates and captions that treat the manufacture
of saddles and coaches and wagons.  The plates show tools,
workship scenes, component parts, and finished articles.  In French.
Import.  $15.00

Or:

Lucia Megias, Jose Manuuel.  Imprenta y libros de caballeros.
Madrid:  Ollero & Ramos 2000. 646 p.  We invite inquiries
for this new illustrated bibliographical study of Spanish horse
books (in Spanish).  We havn't seen it yet; we expect the
price will be ca. $50 to $70.

Mackay-Smith, Alexander.  Speed and the Thoroughbred.  Lanham,
Md.  Derrydale Press 2000.  224p. 55 illus. somein color.  Ten
years in the making, here is the long-awaited last contribution
by America's finest turf historian...This is the first book
to identify and historically trace the three souces of
Thoroughbred speed:  the pre-Christian Irish Hobby, the
sixteen-century English Running Horse, and a few Middle-Eastern
imports.

Carpenter, Marian K.  Arabian legends:  Outstanding Arabian Stallions
and Mares.  $21.95.

and more and more and more.  With volumes like these, Walter
Farley shouldn't be much trouble!  Come to think of it, I
bought my first book about distance riding from Robin
over a dozen years ago.  It was a used edition of
Wentworth and Linda Tellington-Jones' rather dated 1979
volume _Endurance and Competitive Trail Riding_.

I had a very long, very interesting conversation with Robin on
how the Internet has affected the horse book business, both new
and used.  At the time, she had resisted the pressure to
"go Internet" and get a web page and put her catalog online.
I don't know if she still resists.  In some ways, it's like
_You've Got Mail_ with The Little Shop Around the Corner and
its in-depth knowledge of its topic sub-area vs Fox Books
(eBay, Amazon, etc.).  Well, she's The Little Horsebook Shop
Around the Corner.  Stop in!

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA



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