158. Széchenyi István, gróf: Pesti gyepen volt ló-futtatások.

... Juniusban 1827. Első esztendei tudósítás.
(Pesten, 1827. Petrózai Trattner Mátyás’ betűivel.) 24p. First edition.
One of the author’s earliest printed works, of exceptional rarity. To our knowledge, it has appeared at auction only once.
Count István Széchenyi, then serving as a hussar captain, returned from his first journey to England in 1815 with sixteen horses, while the principal purpose of his second and third journeys was the purchase of horses. In November 1818 he published in the journal “Erneuerte Vaterländische Blätter für den österreichischen Kaiserstaat” his ideas concerning the improvement of Hungarian horse breeding and the organisation of horse races, which he regarded as important both economically and militarily. In April 1821 he prepared, on the English model, a thirty-point draft of racing regulations entitled “Projektuma A’ Magyar Országonn felállítandó Lovas-pályázás Törvénnyeinek”, his first separately printed work. Although he had petitioned the king on the matter as early as January 1822, permission was granted only after almost five years. In 1825 the First Horse Breeding Association was founded, and in 1826 the first Hungarian horse race was held at Pozsony during the Diet, though Széchenyi considered it conducted “amid miserable circumstances”. For this reason, the following year’s event in Pest is usually regarded as the first true Hungarian horse race. The present item is the official report of that occasion, composed by Gábor Döbrentei following Széchenyi’s instructions. The next year saw the publication of Széchenyi’s first major work, “Lovakrul”.
Original paper.
Szentkirályi: 105.
 
Starting price: 2 000 000 Ft