Henry H. Stehman and Amos B. Christ

Safety Bridle and Line [Patent with Directions]

Manor Twp., PA: H.H. Stehman & Co., 1866. Very Good+. Item #47997

Manor Twp., Lancaster County, PA: H.H. Stehman & Co., 1866. First Edition. Folio bifolium (32cm); patent accomplished in manuscript printed within typographically decorative border on second panel, with directions on facing panel adorned with large woodcut illustration of a horse's head in the bridle with letters designating the different parts. Old mail folds, brief evidence of tape to margins, else a Very Good to Near Fine example.

Evidently unrecorded indenture form providing a deed of rights to this improved safety bridle and line, signed by both Henry H. Stehman and his business partner Amos B. Christ, together with two local witnesses, on the 24th of August, 1866. The indenture provides Stehman and Amos production and sale rights for Bucks County for $300. The facing panel provides directions for using the harness accompanied by a handsome woodcut of a steed in the contraption. The bridle required elastic gum which "can be had in any of the stores in our principle [sic] cities, where Goodyear's Gum Goods are sold."

No copies in the trade or OCLC as of May, 2026. We find a single auction record, almost certainly for this copy, at Swann's in 2013.

Price: $650.00