The Horse in the City ─ Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century

McShane (history, Northeastern U.) and Tarr (Carnegie Mellon U.) explore the dependence of 19th-century urbanites on the horse as a "living machine" providing the power necessary for the vital operations of America's cities. Drawing on veterinary manuals, stable periodicals, teamster magazines, city newspapers, and agricultural yearbooks, the authors examine the use of the horse for hauling freight and passengers; the regulations controlling horses, their owners and operators; stabling and feeding; the use of horses for leisure activities; equine disease and mortality; and areas where use of the horse was able to persist and areas where it declined rapidly with the arrival of new mechanical technologies. The text offers a glimpse into the 19th-century city life and work of both its human and equine inhabitants. Illustrated with b&w photographs. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Clay McShane teaches history at Northeastern University. Joel A. Tarr is the Richard S. Caliguiri University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2008, he received the Leonardo da Vinci Medal for lifetime achievement from the Society for the History of Technology.