Felix Salten (1869-1945)

Real name: Siegfried Salzmann. Best known as the author of the original story of Bambi, which was made into a classic Disney film. As well as a number of novels about the wild deer and other animals, he also wrote one horse-related title: Florian. This was the story of a Lipizzaner horse and was set in Austria.

He was actually born in Budapest in Hungary, but his family moved to Austria when he was just a baby and he lived there until 1938 when, as a Jew, it seemed prudent to escape from the dominance of Hitler. He moved to Switzerland, where he died a few years later.

Although not receiving much in the way of formal education Salten eventually managed to work his way up to becoming an editor and theatre critic, then eventually novelist.

Apart from Bambi, two of his other novels were also made into Disney films, including The Shaggy Dog (from the novel The Hound of Florence) though sadly for us horse-lovers, Florian was not.

Horse & Pony Books:

FLORIAN: DAS PFERDE DE KAISERS (Original Germany title)
aka FLORIAN: AN EMPEROR'S HORSE (1st UK edition)
aka FLORIAN: THE LIPIZZANER
aka FLORIAN: THE EMPEROR'S STALLION (USA edition)
(1st edition PAUL ZSOLNAY [GERMANY] 1933)
(1st UK edition: JONATHAN CAPE 1934)
First published in UK by Jonathan Cape under title FLORIAN THE EMPEROR'S HORSE
Reprinted in UK by J Allen under the title FLORIAN THE LIPIZZANER.
First published in USA edition by Bobbs Merrill under title FLORIAN THE EMPEROR'S STALLION
Also Swiss, French and Spanish editions.
EDITIONS PICTURED: J Allen UK reprint edition, USA Bobbs Merrill edition.
SUMMARY: A 'Black Beauty' style tale of a horse's fall from grace. This time the hero is a magnificent Lipizzaner stallion, who goes from living in the stables of an emperor to working as a lowly cab horse.

Collector's Info:
No paperback editions as far as I can ascertain. Sub-title was changed a number of times in various editions. First published in Germany. Reprinted in the UK and USA as well as Switzerland, France and Spain, possibly also elsewhere. Not easy to find in the UK or USA. In the UK the J Allen reprint is the edition most commonly seen. The book is however fairly easy to find in Germany.