Mosemans Illustrated Guide for Purchaser

In the early 1870s a young American entrepeneur named Charles Moseman of New York City persuaded his brother Edgar to join him in a saddlery and harness business which was to become one of the most successful firms of its kind.Although steam engines had begun to pull trains and boats,road traffic was still dominated by the horse,as it had been for hundreds of years;and C.M.Moseman&Brother offered the discerning buyer a vast range of high-quality goods.As trade expanded the company produced a catalogue,sold for one dollar,from which goods could be ordered by mail-Moseman's Illustrated Guide for Purchasers of Horse Furnishing Goods,Novelties and Stable Appointments.The vellum-bound original on which this facsimile edition of the catalogue is based measured a huge 15x19 inches,and contained 3,000 hand engravings.It is divided for easy reference into such sections as"Biting Harness","Stable Requisites",and"Boots",and promised the"Lowest Wholesale Prices".Moseman's Illustrated Guide takes its costumers literally from the cradle to the grave,with wicker cot saddles for the infant and black cotton fly nets for the undertaker's horse.In addition to fine leather saddlery,it offers such indispensable items as sweat scrapers for the groom and footwarmers for the carriage-borne lady,coaching horns for the postilion and veterinary cures for every conceivable equine disease.As a reference work work for the historian and the designer it covers the whole range of goods available a hundred years ago for the care and equipment of the horse.