4to. xvi, 234 pp., [2], colour frontispiece, half-title, 7 colour plates, 23 pencil sketches & photographs, contemporary three-quarter calf, with cloth backed boards, title gilt on spine, previous owner’s inscription on front endpaper, otherwise a very good copy, Putnam, London, first edition, 1938.

Synopsis

Limited edition of 140 numbered copies of which 125 are for sale, signed by the author, the artist, and H.H. Aga Khan. This copy is numbered 39.
The first-ever book on the history of His Highness the Aga Khan III’s horse breeding, training and racing activities. Published in April 1938 and titled The Aga Khan’s Horses, this book was authored by the horse racing writer, R. C. Lyle, with illustrations by Lionel Edwards. This is a limited edition, of which only 140 numbered copies were printed (and only 125 were made available for sale). A special and unique feature of these numbered copies is that they are signed by the author (R. C. Lyle), the artist (Lionel Edwards) and His Highness the Aga Khan III. Limited edition signed and numbered copies of The Aga Khan’s Horses are extremely rare, and this copy is number 39. It contains 8 colour plates and 12 pencil sketches by the famous British painter Lionel Edwards, who specialized in painting horses, as well as 16 photographic illustrations. This limited edition is bound in olive green half calf, with the boards covered in brown cloth (emulating the racing colours of Aga Khan III). The olive green calf is accentuated with a single gold line and gold text on the spine. The upper edges of the paper are gilded, with the other edges being uncut.